Stoneleigh vaccination centre closes its doors after giving nearly 160,000 vaccinations since January

The vaccination centre at Stoneleigh Park closed its doors for the last time last week.

The next phase of the NHS vaccination programme will have a focus on pop-up and walk-in sites and the targeting of specific areas of lower uptake.

Rob Spencer, associate director of operations for Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT)'s Covid-19 vaccine programme, has published a message of thanks to all staff, volunteers and everyone involved in helping to make the site, which opened at the end of January, a success.

He said: “Last week we saw the doors close on our vaccination site at Stoneleigh Park for the last time and I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate and thank people for making Stoneleigh vaccination centre a success story of Coventry and Warwickshire’s vaccination programme.

“Since the doors first opened in mid-January over 158,000 Covid-19 vaccinations have taken place.

"Due to the phenomenal efforts from so many people throughout the course of the last nine months, it has not only provided people from our local area with increased protection against this virus, enabling them to get back to some sense of normality, but will have saved countless lives.

“From the very early days of securing the site and helping to get it operational to getting the clinical processes ready for patients to come through the doors, there has been so many individuals who have gone above and beyond from across our health care system to make the site a success.

"Our systems team, our HR team, estates support, our IT support, our communications and marketing team, to our CCG colleagues from the pharmacy medicines management team who took on extra shifts to help ensure we had capacity to deliver so many safe vaccinations – thank you.

“To our wonderful site managers, who have operated in very trying circumstances with goalposts changing; and then changing again over the course of a few days, thank you for your patience and leadership.

“To all members of staff and volunteers who have either worked one shift or 100 shifts, thank you. If you’ve worked clinically, administratively, or voluntarily; on site or in the backgrounds, you’ve made a difference and saved lives.

“Thank you all so much and I looked forward to working with you on the next phase of the programme.”

Dr Sarah Raistrick, GP clinical lead at CWPT, added: “Thanks to the success of the Covid-19 vaccination programme across Coventry and Warwickshire, nearly 1.3 million people have been vaccinated so far.

“Hundreds of staff and volunteers have pulled out all the stops across Coventry and Warwickshire to deliver the vaccination programme in cricket clubs and golf courses, churches and mosques, community centres and council halls, GP practices, hospitals, pharmacies and even a vaccination ambulance.

"This is in addition to the vaccination centre set up in Stoneleigh NAEC.

“The next phase of the vaccination programme will see a focus on pop-up and walk-in sites and the targeting of specific areas of lower uptake. We want to do as much as possible to enable everyone eligible to get their vaccination.”

For news about the latest pop-up and walk-in clinics visit www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination-drop-in-clinics