Covid-19 vaccinations for our young people took place on-site on Monday – with our new Health & Wellbeing Hub proving to be the perfect setting.

The vaccinations were offered to 47 of our young people on Monday, with Drs Ezra and Clarke from The Downland Practice, in Chieveley, coming onto site to administer the doses.

Young people were prepared to receive the vaccination with the use of schedules, social stories and calming sensory toys in the waiting room area of the Health & Wellbeing Hub, before being called in to receive their jab.

The vast majority of the 47 young people invited to attend successfully received their first dosage of the vaccination, with the Oxford-Astra Zenica vaccine being used.

In preparation for the vaccination to take place, mental capacity assessments were completed, relative views were gathered, and de-sensitisation programmes were initiated.

Lynsey Preston, our Safeguarding, Health and Wellbeing Manager, said: The on-site Covid-19 vaccination session for our young people was a huge success and this is down to the preparation work done by our therapy teams, staff directly supporting our young people, and the efforts of our young people.

“Having an injection can be a hugely upsetting experience for our young people, with there always the chance the appointment will be unsuccessful due to distress caused. So I am hugely proud of the Prior’s Court staff for their efforts in making the session so successful. My thanks also go to Drs Ezra and Clarke from The Downland Practice for their support.

“The vaccinations of our young people is part of the holistic and wide-reaching efforts we have made over the past year, and continue to make, to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 at Prior’s Court.”

The Downland Practice is where the majority of our young people are registered as patients, so its staff are familiar with the needs of our young people and the approaches we take.

Our Health & Wellbeing Hub is designed to replicate external healthcare settings, helping our young people to overcome anxieties and become more comfortable in these environments. This in turn means essential medical appointments are more likely to be successful.