Professor Mike Holmes, who coordinates York’s Covid vaccination centre, says in his latest column for The Press that while the pandemic restrictions might have ceased, it remains important for people to keep protected.

This week we’ve seen the power of our communities as they join together to offer support for the people of Ukraine. Seeing the images of those fleeing the worn torn areas puts our difficulties into perspective and this city, like others across the country, has pulled together to help those affected.

Here at Nimbuscare, like many others, our teams have rallied round to support the cause by donating much needed provisions and funds.

As we do our bit to help others, we must continue to care for ourselves too.

The restrictions may have ceased, but it’s still important to keep protected.

There are still people who have not yet had their booster doses.

We remain open every day so please book in for yours as soon as you can.

Nimbuscare launches another new facility this week which is part of the city’s Covid recovery programme - Spirometry testing.

During the pandemic GP Practices had to pause Spirometry testing.

This was because of the risk of aerosol droplets from coughing during the test.

Spirometry is a test used to help diagnose and monitor certain lung conditions by measuring how much air you can breathe out in one forced breath.

On the whole, there has been limited testing since March 2020, due to potential risks of the spread of Covid.

Hundreds of people across the country have had to wait for testing to get the results which could confirm a diagnosis of respiratory problems.

The good news is that the new Spirometry suite will enable the resumption of testing at the Askham Bar Vaccination Centre from Wednesday 9 March.

We’ve created a dedicated spirometry suite with specialist equipment and the necessary ventilation required for the safe testing of patients.

This is another example of how our member GP practices have joined together to help our community recover.

We continue to play catch up with other services affected over the past two years and provide support for York people who have been diagnosed with long covid too.

This week we are celebrating International Women’s Day and to mark this Nimbuscare is recognising the work of the women within our teams.

We held an event on Tuesday featuring award winning writer and speaker Lynne Copp, whose book Dancing Round the Handbags was the theme of the evenings celebrations.

The ‘Dance’ is a metaphor for what you do each day – we are all guilty of dancing to the tunes of others that we sometimes have little time to focus on our own aspirations and potential.

We hope the evening inspires others to grow and develop to their full potential.

This is something that we feel is really important here at Nimbuscare.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is #BreakTheBias – let’s imagine a gender equal world, free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination.