CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
@crowriver - on an entirely different note. A bit of evidence to support your claim that the NHS seems to think everyone arrives by car. NHS Borders press release states:
If you attend ED please be prepared to wait. You may even be asked to wait in your car, if able. Please have patience with our staff as they will see you as soon as possible.
@Morningsider, "(I want to make it clear that none of these were me)."
If you say so! :-)
The 31 has a stop which is served in both directions in Bughtlin. The route does a T at the end of the route and on the non terminus end the stop is served both ways.
It's so close to the end of the route that confusion is avoided.
So the car sick culture of NHS Lothian has entrenched itself in the flu vaccine rollout even more than last year. The problem is compounded by the imposition of an unwieldy centralised national booking system created for the Covid vaccination programme.
We can look forward to being directed to Ingliston or further afield due to NHS Lothian's choice to base vaccination centres in peripheral locations.
Just back from Leith clinic with youngest child. Big queue outside, lots of students getting second shots. Staff were great. Whole process took an hour and a half. Plus 15-20 minutes walk each way. So two hours plus out of the afternoon. Clinic shuts at 3.15pm. Only realistic option on a Friday after school.
There should be more clinics near to where most people actually live.
Re NHS Borders and cars, some people I know from Peebles were given appointments in Kelso on a Sunday, more than 2 hours away by public transport. As an alternative location to Kelso, Newcastleton was suggested, which I think has no bus service on Sundays. On weekdays it would be possible to travel there and back but it might involve a bus to Carlisle then a train to Edinburgh and another bus to Peebles, according to Travelinescotland.com.
Someone else I know from West Linton was sent to Eyemouth for their vaccination, a trip of at least 64 miles each way.
@slowcoach, I suppose that's what happens when vaccination appointments are booked in by a centralised national system where there is no local knowledge. Appointments allocated on the basis of very large post code areas, presumably?
Overheard several young adults in Leith this afternoon who had appointments today for Ingliston, but couldn't get out there as no car, and public transport rather impractical...
Whatever the reason was for closing EICC, it was a poorly timed decision for sure.
Things with our neighbours are going a bit crazy. Or is this attitude contagious?
The cartoonist then boasted: “I’ve never worn a mask, never used hand sanitiser, never social distanced, never scanned a code, never downloaded the app, never got a test, never given my real details, never chapped the NHS and I am never, ever, getting vaccinated. My conscience is clear.”
“People are dying of Covid in my hospital. *How* have we got here?”
Cycled out to Ingliston with mini-Morningsider early doors today for a drop-in Covid jab. NHS Lothian had allocated him an appointment at Ingliston for 8.40 on a school morning - which was simply a non-starter. Both the canal and Gogar Station Road were nice and quiet. The last mile or so was fairly unpleasant though and we ended up chaining the bikes to some sort of air conditioning unit, as these was no obvious bike parking.
Super efficient inside the vaccination centre - we just breezed through.
When I asked about bike parking, at Inglistom the suggestion was to chain up to the "Vaccination Center" signs by the entrance.
‘When I asked about bike parking, at Inglistom the suggestion was to chain up to the "Vaccination Center" signs by the entrance.’
Same here. One of the stewards kindly said they’d keep an eye on it, not that I was particularly worried.
Somewhat disappointing (to put it mildly) that the RHC appears to have no bike parking whatsoever. Their website covers travel by road/rail/bus/tram/air(!) but not bike.
"Somewhat disappointing (to put it mildly) that the RHC appears to have no bike parking whatsoever. Their website covers travel by road/rail/bus/tram/air(!) but not bike."
Incredibly, until recently that was also true for the Western General Hospital. NHS Lothian, hitting those climate change targets with gusto! (As in, accelerating climate change, not slowing it down).
Crowriver - unsure about that, I nearly always took my bike to visit when my wife was in that hospital and that was 10 years ago.
@wishicouldgofaster, I wasn't talking about how individuals actually travel to the Western General. I was referring specifically to information on the NHS Lothians web site giving travel options. Until recently, it listed how to get there by air, but not how to get there by bike. Even now, the list of travel options has driving at the top...
crowriver - I see :), that certainly is a bit poor!
Hearing reports at work of a number of people having really nasty crashes after returing to cycling to work.
If you've not cycled regularly for a while, and given the time of year and leaf mulch etc, maybe worth taking it easy for a bit to learn your centre of gravity again.
(maybe my enforced slowness due to massive gut is doing me a backhanded favour)
“
Conservative conference: Get off your Pelotons and back to work, says Oliver Dowden
“
And on STV also.
https://news.stv.tv/east-central/people-turned-away-from-covid-vaccine-centre-amid-chaotic-scenes
This is what happens when you force people to go to Ingliston, and don't provide sufficient local clinics for the 40% of the population who don't have access to a car. 16-18 year olds will soon be arriving for their second shots of the vaccine also, so expect more of this.
Came across this. Some interesting details that again question editorial policy at BBC Scotland.
https://newsnet.scot/commentary/when-does-bbc-scotlands-unethical-journalism-become-fraud/
Was on the train. Guy got on at Haymarket, sat behind me, no mask. I asked if he could please put his mask on. Claimed he didn't have one, also claimed has an exemption.
Truly remarkable how many able bodied young men have mask exemptions. Also how many of them have travelled up from England.
I made a point of moving seats to be away from him.
Anyone heard how the Lothian flu vaccination programme is getting on? On my part, I have a colleague based in Aberdeen only just over 50 with no pre existing risk conditions, who's been done. Meanwhile here another person over 60, and myself with at risk with flu condition haven't heard a whisper
Haven't heard anything either, would usually have received an SMS by now (or at least over the last couple of years).
There are some indications that it's a bit of a mess, similar problems to the Covid vaccine rollout, e.g. folk getting told to go to Ingliston. From NHS Inform web site:
---
****UPDATE - 21/09/2021****
We are aware of an issue with the scheduling of some Flu appointments via the national booking system. This has resulted in some people's appointments not being as local as we had expected. We know how concerning this is for people who cannot travel. We understand NHS National Services Scotland, which runs the booking system, is investigating how the issue has arisen and additional booking slots are being created to enable people to attend a more local appointment. If you have received a letter with an appointment that you are unable to attend, you can rearrange your appointment for a more local venue by going online
---
I had mine in a special school in south east Edinburgh on 30.09.21. Very kind of them to include me. The NHS staff had plenty of vaccine. I know a very large primary school in South East Edinburgh was also done on the same day.
The tactics of simultaneously saying it will be a bad year for flu and then being later than usual in offering the jab is going to cause a lot of anxiety. Previously our local practice used to have a jab day, which seemed to work quite well.
Lot of doubt around the jab working too as not so much to go on from last year when there was little flu about.
My flu jab last year was hysterical. Lot of people who could not work out the queue, could not wear a mask et cetera.
Presume jabs are available from chemists at a cost?
With masks, hand washing, social distance et cetera might be ok. Balerno GP surgery (in currie) had two flu days, I think I missed the first one so the second one was November.
Sorry, post above should have said NHS Lothian web site. At NHS Inform, it just says the following:
---
How will I get the vaccine?
Those aged 70 or over will be contacted by their local NHS health board with details about their appointment.
Information about how to arrange your flu vaccination for all other eligible individuals will be available soon. Please do not phone your GP practice or NHS 24 for this information.
Last updated:
29 September 2021
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On the same site, regarding the Covid booster rollout:
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Other eligible groups
You are eligible for both a flu vaccine and a coronavirus booster if you are:
an adult aged 50 and over
an adult carer, unpaid carer or a young carer aged 16 years or over
aged 16 and over and a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed
Depending on when you had your second dose of coronavirus vaccine, you may need two separate appointments.
You will be able to book an appointment via the online portal soon.
Letters will then be issued to anyone in these groups who haven’t booked an appointment.
Last updated:
07 October 2021
---
So, all "coming soon"...
Don't hold your breath!
I’m worried they are doing flu and covid together, which means 6 months after most recent covid. My second was 5 months and 29 days ago. So I figure I don’t get my flu shot until December? Maybe mid November at best?
@SRD, yeah depends how they organise it. Hopefully will be able to book either vaccine? If not, then if it's a dual shot will be mid-December for me...
Well some folk are getting it, my grandad(93) and most of the others in his monitored housing building(various ages 60 and up) were out at Ingliston a couple of days ago, most of them got an NHS minibus laid on, got flu and booster. His friend Jean from another similar building is booked in next week for the same at the Leith centre.
Given the circumstances I don't get why people are expecting things to run as smoothly as they do in a typical year. EDIT: Also my grandad had his second covid shot not quite six months ago, they seem to be adopting an "eh, close enough" approach if you're going for your flu shot within a couple weeks of when you "should" be getting the booster.
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