Why City Hall vaccination site couldn't be set up any quicker

The large-scale centre on Malthouse Lane, one of two in the whole Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG area, is to start vaccinating people aged 80 or above on Tuesday (January 26).

It will operate seven days a week, giving out 900 jabs in one day alone from the second week of it being operational.

However, prior to the announcement, a number of readers who have yet to receive the vaccine had written to the Journal, raising concerns about the speed of the immunisation process in the city and the lack of a permanent site.

Read more:

• Vaccinations at City Hall to start next week
• Behind the scenes at City Hall's large-scale vaccination site 
• City Hall expected to administer 900 jabs a day in second week
• Covid-19 vaccine: All you need to know
• Find out when you could get the Covid jab
• The 19 GP-led sites set up in the Wiltshire CCG area

Cllr Pauline Church speaking to Fiona Hyett, Operation Director of the City Hall vaccination site. Picture by Monaya Abel

'It couldn't have been done any quicker'

Fiona Hyett, Operational Director for the site, explained that NHS staff and volunteers have been "incredibly busy" in the past month.

They first found out that Salisbury had been chosen to host a mass vaccination site before Christmas.

"It seems very simple when you're sitting here, you think there's a few chairs and a few boards around and people will flow through but there's all the background work that goes on as well," she explained.

"We need to have standard operating procedures [in place] for everything we do, we need to recruit the workforce that are going to work in here to administer the vaccine.

"We've had a huge response, the response is so large that it then takes an awful lot of time to work through, processing those people to make sure they're appropriate... what role can they do and what skills do they have so I don't think it could have been done any quicker."

She added: "I know some sites have gone live earlier but that's the way that the world works, not everything can start in one go, there's always a phasing approach and the benefit for us is that we learn from that."

City Hall vaccination site. Picture by Monaya Abel

Apprehension and excitement

On Monday (January 25), the site will be open for a training day, with staff giving out the jab to fellow healthcare workers to ensure the smooth running of the process.

From Tuesday, people over the age of 80 will be invited to attend.

Mrs Hyett said there is "apprehension," adding: "We don't want people queuing down the road because we haven't got our processes right and they can't get through the system quickly [and] smartly."

However, there is also excitement.

"I've got an amazing team that have helped set this up, a huge amount of effort has gone in by everybody and I have every confidence that we can get going and work it out."

Although patients should be in and out in 10-15 minutes, Mrs Hyett says she is keen to ensure every patient coming through the door has a personal experience.

"We want [people] to feel like they matter, because they do matter and their experience matters to us," she said.

'Great opportunity' for City Hall

The Wiltshire Council-owned building has been shut for 10 months and its future as a concert venue, due to the uncertainty of the pandemic, is still unclear. 

Cllr Pauline Church, Cabinet Member for Finance, Procurement and Investment is "pleased" the council has been able to offer the site for the vaccination programme.

She said: "It's one of the larger venues in the area and it's just a great opportunity to allow this space to be part of this vaccine rollout.

"We're quite used to using [City Hall] for different purposes, whether it's for exhibitions or music venues, or wedding fairs, so it's quite adaptable.

"We've got seats that come out and can be retracted back again so I think what's really good about this location is that it's so close to central car park, it's easy for people to get here, people know the venue, they feel very comfortable coming here, there's lots of space and I think that's what people will be reassured by."

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