‘Red hot’ phone lines leads to urgent Midhurst Pharmacy appeal

As well as urging as many people as possible to book their flu jabs, Raj Rohilla has reminded people that this cannot be done by calling the pharmacy.

‘Lack of clarity’ over the booking system, he said, has led to an influx of phone calls meaning that people relying on the pharmacy’s other services might not be getting through.

“We as a pharmacy can’t book any [vaccine] appointments for people.

“What we are trying to urge people is to not phone us — our phone lines are red hot.

“It is a great concern because it is blocking the phones for those people that really need pharmacy services and we really want to keep that free.

“Please leave our phone lines free — we just haven’t got the capacity. I can’t work any harder.

“You book it through the national booking system online or by phoning 119.”

Raj went on to highlight the importance of getting a booster jab as the pharmacy celebrates nearing 65,000 vaccinations.

He added: “We are really urging as many people as possible to have their flu jabs this year.

“If you have ever been hesitant about it, this is the year. If people get flu and get put in hospital it is going to add to the burden that we have already got.

“At the rate we are going at the moment we will have given out 65,000 Covid jabs by January.

“Of flu jabs we have done about 2,500 this year — eight times what we would normally do.

“We will always offer it to everyone when they have their Covid jabs.”

You can book vaccinations by calling 119 or by visiting www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/