Plymouth Science Park-based Sentinel Healthcare has been supporting the COVID-19 vaccine rollout at Plymouth Pavilions, the city’s largest vaccination centre.
Over 10,000 Plymouth residents have already received their first vaccine dose at the site, with more to come. This includes care home residents and the housebound.
Sentinel is a not-for-profit GP federation that provides primary healthcare for patients and medical professionals in Plymouth, South East Cornwall, South Hams and West Devon.
Their support of the vaccine rollout follows on from their deployment last year of a ‘COVID-19 Hub’, allowing people with COVID symptoms to get treated in a safe environment.
Sentinel was awarded the Social Enterprise Mark, an internationally recognised accreditation of the Plymouth firm’s commitment to creating positive social change.
Sentinel’s vaccination efforts at the Pavilions site are being deployed in conjunction with nineteen practices, local volunteers, the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, the Devon Sustainability and Transformation Partnership and Pavilions staff. Members of the Armed Forces have also assisted with the programme.
Roland Gude, Strategic Director at Sentinel Healthcare, said: “It has been awe-inspiring and, frankly, humbling to be involved with this great community effort to get Plymouth vaccinated. So many individuals and organisations have come together to make a speedy, effective roll-out possible.
“Many of the patients coming through the centre have not left their homes in almost a year. The Pavilions staff have been fantastic and it’s a great feeling to be able to contribute to protecting the public and getting people’s lives back to normal again as soon as possible.”
Both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are being delivered at the Pavilions centre, with a workforce of around 45 staff or volunteers operating at any one time.
Fay Davies, Business Development Manager at Plymouth Science Park, said: “The Sentinel team have been doing amazing work to support the local community throughout the pandemic. From their rapid redeployment of resources last year to establish a COVID-19 treatment hub, to their recent contribution to Plymouth’s vaccination rollout, they have played a crucial role in supporting the Plymouth community’s response to the pandemic. We are proud to have them based here at the Park and contributing to the Park’s fantastic community of tenants working in healthcare and other sectors.”
