Advice and Information

In a recent letter to midwives, obstetricians and GPs, Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, Chief Midwife, reminds all healthcare professionals that ‘they have a responsibility to proactively encourage pregnant women to get vaccinated.’

Official message from NHS England - Anyone using or visiting healthcare settings must continue to wear a face covering and stick to social distancing rules.

The COVID-19 vaccine is our best defence against the virus, alongside effective social distancing, wearing a mask and washing your hands. Getting vaccinated means protecting yourself and may also help to protect your family and friends.

To ensure you are offered the COVID-19 vaccine, it is very important that you are registered with a GP practice. Not being registered with a GP practice could delay receiving your vaccination.

To ensure that everyone who is most at risk from COVID-19 can get protected as quickly as possible, the NHS is calling those in the first four priority groups to contact and book their vaccine, if they haven’t got an appointment yet.

The national vaccination programme is well underway in Hertfordshire and both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines are being given to local people.

From today onwards (Monday 11 January), the New QEII Hospital Urgent Care Centre for minor illnesses and injuries in Welwyn Garden City will close its doors to new patients at 10pm every day. It will reopen at 8am every morning.

This live webchat service, which launched in August, has helped over 1,100 people in the first two months, including service users, carers and health and care professionals.

The first phase of the NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme has begun across Hertfordshire, with those in the top priority groups being offered the vaccine first.

Thanks to the new ‘Travel with Confidence’ scheme, people can feel more confident taking a taxi or minicab in Hertfordshire during the Covid-19 pandemic.

To keep urgent NHS services safe and to make sure that they are available for everyone who needs them, an appointment system for urgent and emergency care is being introduced across the country from 1 December.

Our local NHS services are here to help you stay well, safely. Do not delay getting help for your health this winter.