The latest annual accounts for NHS Barnsley CCG are now available to read. The report highlights another challenging year as we continued living through the pandemic. There was however hope as we saw the impact of the COVID-19 vaccination programme as it continued to roll out successfully.

We ended the year with the positive news that a new community diagnostic centre, based in the heart of the town centre in a new retail and leisure site, would soon be launched. This site offers additional and convenient access to a range of diagnostic tests, such as bone density scans, blood tests and many more.

In September 2021, the Barnsley area was inspected by Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) to review how well the borough meets its responsibilities for children and young people (aged 0-25) who have special educational needs and disability (SEND). The inspection report noted many strengths and the progress we’ve made over the last two years. However, it also highlighted two areas of significant concern. 

Read more about the report and a copy of the Written Statement of Action which will be presented at Barnsley Council's cabinet on Wednesday 18 May.

Cervical Cancer Prevention Week runs from January 17-23, and as part of this, health partners are spreading information about cervical cancer and how it can be prevented.

Patients undergoing treatment for cancer will now be able to receive some of their treatment closer to home due to a partnership between Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Burleigh Medical Centre in Barnsley.

The holiday season is upon us and we’ve got lots of bank holiday days throughout the season this year. Find out how to book GP appointments and which pharmacies are open near you this Christmas and New Year.

The Barnsley booster vaccination programme has seen a record response but health and care leaders worry others may not realise the importance of coming forward as soon as possible.

Latest Barnsley figures show that more than eight in ten eligible people, over the age of 50, have now had their booster vaccine, with over 108,000 Barnsley people in total now having had theirs. However, health and care bosses are now urging eligible people, including those under 50, to come forward and get their booster over this next week.

The Barnsley NHS GP vaccination service announces a large-scale pop-up clinic to help vaccinate the estimated 90,000 across the borough who will be eligible for their booster before the end of December 2021.

The new pop-up vaccine clinic at Barnsley Metrodome will be open for walk-in booster appointments at 11am on Thursday 16 December 2021. It will be there for a time limited period until the end of December to help with the national announcement that all eligible adults aged 18 or over should be offered the booster vaccine by December 31 2021.

Health and care organisations across Barnsley and South Yorkshire are prioritising the recruitment of additional staff and resilience of services this winter due to the ongoing high levels of COVID-19 infection rates and the impact that has had on services.

Social care workers are set to receive a long-awaited pay increase four months early thanks to a landmark £15million pound agreement between health and care organisations across South Yorkshire. 

Gavin Boyle confirmed as Designate Chief Executive of South Yorkshire’s Integrated Care Board

Following an extensive recruitment process, Gavin Boyle has been appointed as the new Chief Executive designate of the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (SYICB).

From 7am today (Monday 22 November), people aged 40 to 49 will be able to book their booster vaccines and 16 and 17-year-olds can make appointments for their second jabs.

Around 61 care homes have already been visited while a further 15 homes have visits scheduled within the coming days and weeks, as part of the NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme.

With all of the homes either visited or with visits booked, local GP, community nursing and pharmacy teams are working to make sure that the remaining care homes can book their booster vaccine clinic as soon as possible, as the NHS rollout intensifies ahead of winter.

As we head into winter, we want to share with you some of the challenges and opportunities facing NHS and care services, and how together, we can all help each other.

The way Barnsley people have responded flexibly to the NHS throughout the past 18 months has been amazing and we still need your help.

The pandemic is not over. Rates remain high, people continue to die from COVID-19, and others are experiencing long-COVID. It is still having an impact on all aspects of people’s lives and we certainly see it still in health and care services.

There are some simple things that would make a real difference to making sure that everybody gets the care they need.

Herbert Barker, the first man in Barnsley to have the COVID-19 vaccine back in December 2020, kicked off the booster campaign in Barnsley on Wednesday, 29 September.

The team will vaccinate 500 people on the first day of booster roll out from the Priory Campus site in Lundwood.

Andrea Parkin, head of the GP vaccination service in Barnsley said: "Whilst we never underestimated the enormity of the task to vaccinate and protect our Barnsley population, few of us imagined that we would still be vaccinating at such a large scale 10 months later. Since we started, we’ve given over 260,000 vaccines in Barnsley which is phenomenal.

Invitations to book a COVID booster jab will be sent to one and a half million people this week as the NHS vaccination programme enters a new phase ahead of winter.

Millions of vulnerable people are to be offered a COVID-19 booster vaccine from next week as the government confirms it has accepted the final advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

• Millions of UK’s most vulnerable to be offered a COVID-19 booster vaccine from next week
• UK accepts advice from the independent JCVI on who to prioritise for a booster dose
• Further details on deployment to be set out in due course

The programme will be rolled out to the same priority groups as previously. This means care home residents, health and social care workers, people aged over 50, those aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19, adult carers, and adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals will be prioritised.

The Barnsley NHS GP COVID-19 vaccination service is joining up with Barnsley College to run clinics on-site for students and staff during September (20th & 27th).

The clinics will be open for any students and staff who want their first vaccine.

In a little over a month since Barnsley 16 and 17-year-olds were offered the vaccine, over half of them have already come forward to have theirs. Those aged 18 to 24 have now also passed the uptake rate of some of the older age groups with more than 7 out of 10 now having had their first dose.

The clinics at Barnsley College will offer an additional opportunity for those starting back this term to get their vaccine. 

GP and Pharmacy opening times in Barnsley for Bank holiday Monday, 30th August 2021.

NHS Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is asking patients of Brierley Medical Centre to share their experiences of GP services to help inform future plans for the practice.