For all our vaccination champions - thank you

Clive Tracey, Operational Lead for KCHFT's COVID-19  Vaccination Programme and Dr Ruth Brown, Chief Pharmacist share their thanks in this open letter to all those involved in the vaccination programme across Kent and Medway.

Together, we did it – a huge thank you to our vaccination family

We wanted to write to everyone who has been involved in Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. Over the past year, we have been humbled and proud of the enormity of what you have achieved.

Who knew when we started to get the early cases of COVID-19, it would lead to the largest vaccine programme the UK has ever seen? It was a call to action that every single one of you embraced.

We looked at more than 60 potential sites and ending up running seven; the two early sites of Aylesham Health Centre and Sheppey Community Hospital, then our five vaccination centres to support local communities across Kent and Medway.

It is amazing how two shops, a call centre, a theatre and a sports hall could be transformed so quickly into a highly-efficient, safe, clinical centres that have saved the lives of so many.

You have all been real champions in helping to make the programme a success. We have often heard that you all talked about being a family, it was that spirit and ethos, which made the centres such a great place to be.

Our family included an army of volunteers and all those who came out of retirement, transferred from other non-NHS backgrounds, such a cabin crew, logistics and hospitality managers together with our existing KCHFT staff who did extra hours or were seconded to the program.

You have helped deliver more than half a million vaccines with each site making a significant impact with the number of vaccines given. Behind every number there’s a story – there’s a life we hope to have saved:

Behind the scenes

The vaccine number is only one part of the story, the work behind the scenes allowed it all to happen. We are extremely grateful to all those who devoted long hours, evenings and weekends to getting us up and running – opening a vaccination centre each week was a real challenge that we together all achieved.

We would like to thank all of you who have, in your own way, helped in any part of the programme. Words cannot adequately describe the scale of the work and outcomes you achieved in such a small timescale.

Our Human Resources and Workforce Development Teams shortlisted 4,371 applications, recruited 3,076 people external to KCHFT, facilitated more 40,000 online training modules and in one month alone took 5,500 phone calls to help people get onto the programme. They were supported by our finance, business development and contracts teams together with personal assistants, administrators, HR business partners and staff from other organisations to deliver what would normally be two years’ work in just four months.

The speed of set-up of the sites could not have been achieved without our estates, facilities and IT services, which met every deadline thrown at them. The teams have been very responsive to problems, solution-focused and created miracles to make sure we had safe, clean and usable sites, including full IT network coverage even where it was not available the week before. The miles of extension leads and mountains of cable ties is a just a small element of what they used to get us functional.

Then there was dealing with that all-important vaccine – one of the most precious commodities in the world. The Pharmacy Team was amazing. From those early days of dry ice, managing the vaccine, learning the aseptic non-touch technique and training so many staff to the highest standards. Not to mention managing not one, but three different types of vaccine and doing their utmost to make sure none was wasted. They were pioneers in their field, answering a myriad of clinical questions about efficacy and safety to staff, patients and public and the team did not falter.

We are lucky as an organisation to have such a great Communications Team and they have lived up to their reputation. Our communications with staff, public and stakeholders, such as the local councils, MPs and the Press have been handled with real professionalism that have highlighted the fantastic work you have all achieved. Many of you are now immortalised in TV history as the coverage of what you implemented was played out in the media.

We have all been part of a rollercoaster with guidance, information and direction changing often daily. Our Communication Team has helped bring clarity, sparkle and social media where we have seen the impact that social media plays in promoting our services driving up take-up. The Vax Scene e-bulletin has been a great source of information and is now being used to support messaging for the school-aged immunisations programme.

Staying with us

It is so pleasing to hear how so many of you are continuing to support the children’s vaccine programme, retraining to remain in healthcare or have taken permanent roles in KCHFT and other health providers. We have been fortunate to have such a wealth of knowledge and expertise from a whole range of working sectors that brought new ideas and ways of working. This approach and use of different skills not traditionally from an NHS background has opened us to new ways of working and thinking about how we use this talent in the future.

If you are not already, please stay with us. Take shifts via the bank or sign up if you haven’t already, explore permanent positions with us and help us get through our second Covid winter, as we face our next challenge.

 A final thank you

As we hand over the COVID-19 vaccination programme, we really want to acknowledge you and the part you have played in creating such a successful story; it truly was a family and to recognise this with the vaccine champion badge is a small token of appreciation.

Thank you all so much.

Clive and Ruth