Professor Mike Holmes, of primary care services provider Nimbuscare, says in this week's column for The Press that he hopes the late Queen's legacy will inspire his team to deal with challenges faced every day in providing care.

Like so many people, during the last 10 days, I’ve found myself pausing to reflect upon the extraordinary dedication and commitment that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II showed to public service during her 70-year reign, through periods of real adversity for the country. Compassion and kindness were qualities she had in abundance, as well as a real resilience to keep going through difficult times. I hope that her values, actions and service can be her legacy, and will inspire us to deal with the challenges we face every day as we provide care for our patients.

Following the Government announcement that Monday, September 19 would be a bank holiday, we felt that it was the right thing to do to close our Community Care Centres and pause our other services for the day. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may have caused and thank our patients for their understanding.

Frontline health and care workers, immunosuppressed people, and those aged over 65 years are now able to book in for their autumn Covid-19 booster vaccinations. We're offering appointments at our Askham Bar Community Care Centre and eligible patients should book via the National Booking System. Please be aware that we’re not operating a walk-in vaccination service; all appointments must be pre-booked.

We also continue to offer first, second and booster dose Covid-19 vaccinations to eligible patients aged five years upwards, who have not previously taken up the offer. We offer appointments for five to 11 years olds on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings, which can also be booked via the National Booking System. Anyone who’s unsure which doses they’ve had is asked to email our helpdesk for advice.

We’re also now giving eligible patients their winter flu vaccinations on behalf of some of our member GP practices. We began sending invitations out two weeks ago as part of a phased approach, so patients needn’t worry if they’ve not yet received their invitation. A few York patients will be invited to go to their GP practice for their flu jab, but the majority will be invited by Nim-buscare.

Where possible, we'd like to offer patients their flu and Covid vaccines on the same visit, so that they don't have to make two separate trips. However, this might not always be possible due to vaccine availability.

I’m pleased to announce that our CAT (Children’s Ambulatory Treatment) Hub, which is a special clinic for babies and children with respiratory illnesses, will resume next Thursday, September 22, initially for two days each week only, on Thursdays and Fridays. Longer-term, and subject to securing funding, we hope to expand the service. Eligible patients can be referred to this service by their GP, a paramedic of NHS 111. For more information, please visit the relevant service page on our website.