Lancashire’s vaccination hub: 170,000 jabs, 30,000 masks, 1,500 bottles of hand sanitiser, and one Jubilee House

“This team and everything it has achieved has been without question one of the finest and most motivated groups of people I have ever worked with,” says Brian Hann, NM Health Innovations’ Operations Business and Operations Manager. “Day-in, day-out, they turned up and worked tirelessly to support many thousands of people with skill and professionalism.

“We’ve learned to live with Covid and this is in no small part down to teams like ours, helping patients to have their vaccine and therefore protecting themselves and others,” adds Brian, with Jubilee House having administered over 152,000 Covid jabs and 17,000 flu vaccinations in conjunction with Bridgedale Primary Care Network. “If I could bottle up the spirit of dedication, hard work, and fun, I would.”

With Jubilee House having been designed to operate as the main vaccination hub, freeing up the various surgeries to operate under less stress, the centre has proved a huge success. As well as their in-house service, they also visited 50 local care homes, 20 high schools, and countless vaccine pop-up sites across the region.

But, with 60,000 cars having come and gone from the Jubilee House car park, 1,500 bottles of hand sanitiser used, over 30,000 masks given out, and 220 doses administered each day, Jubilee House will next week close its doors following the delivery of the Autumn booster to over 50s and vulnerable groups.

“It’s down to this hard work and effort that the need for our services is no longer necessary,” says Brian. “The pandemic has moved on and, thankfully, the world has moved on. The stats show the work, but not the effort - that’s only visible when you see the exhaustion at the end of the day, the ache in the feet and the blurred eyes.

“But people went home, got some sleep, then came in the next day to do it all over again,” he adds. “It’s amazing and I’m so proud of everyone as well as the collective achievement. One day, people will look back at 2020 to 2022 and talk about what we did. They will talk about lockdown and, sadly, about loved ones they lost.

“But they will also talk about how they were able to have free vaccines from the NHS to allow them to live their lives again and we will be able to say we were an integral part of that, vaccinating everyone from five-year-olds to 105-year-olds,” he continues. “It’s been a monumental effort and we should be forever proud of that fact.

“I hope people will look back on their time at Jubilee House as a good time,” Brian says. “I certainly will. As with any ending, there is sadness, and I am genuinely going to miss the team. But, who knows - maybe Team Jubilee will be called upon again in the future. And I’m sure that, if the call comes, we’ll all jump at the chance.”