On the 11th January, NHS England published a letter instructing vaccination centres and practices regarding second doses of the Covid-19 vaccines, building on guidance it sent before the new year. This instruction included cancellation of any remaining 2nd vaccinations, and rearranging them for the twelfth week following the patient's first vaccination.
In light of this, accuBook currently enables practices to:
batch-cancel appointments for second doses
allowing booking of a first dose only (we had previously booked both doses)
When will we re-enable booking of second doses?
There is still some time before the first wave of patients reach the new 12-week deadline for their second dose. We are working round the clock on how to implement this feature. It's our team's current priority.
You can be assured that we will re-enable booking of 2nd doses in good time before you need to book patients in.
How will booking second doses work?
We know (and feedback from our users confirms) that it is essential the first vaccination status be checked before the patient is invited back.
We are working with NHS Digital and other partners to allow us to check national systems (specifically, the National Immunisation Management Service) to confirm the vaccination status of patients - e.g. whether they have received their first dose.
Update 18/01/21: we're now testing our access to these systems and integrating them into accuBook.
Will this help us to re-book patients where we cancelled their second dose?
Yes. Our current plan is to use this information to enable accuBook to bulk re-invite patients for a 2nd appointment - covering those who had their second doses cancelled in early January.
What about patients who had their first jabs booked using a different appointment management system?
The ability to check national systems - mentioned above - will help us to handle patient bookings individually, and we can then build support for this group of patients where the practice has switched to accuBook. For now, the practice will need to manually track this relatively small group.
Will Accurx cancel my clinic?
No. It's important that you remain in control of your clinics and vaccine prioritisation, so we will not cancel any second dose patients/appointments on your behalf.
But please rest assured that if you do choose to cancel these patients' doses, you will be able to book in their second dose in a date within the 12 week window.
What if I just want to re-schedule a second dose individually or a second dose clinic?
Currently, you'll need to handle the rescheduling of 2nd dose sessions separately to accuBook. NHS England have separately offered assistance in helping practices reschedule second doses - including administrative support. That is set out here. That may be of help to you in these cases.
Can I find out more?
We keep this page updated with key facts but may provide more regular updates and answer questions in our Facebook Group.