AN NHS clinic at Festival Place will offer Covid booster vaccination for people aged over 50 this autumn.

The booster will be offered to people aged 50 and over, as well as to staff and residents of care homes, frontline health and social care workers, adult carers, and those at clinical risk, including pregnant women.

The booster programme is due to be finished by Christmas and could see as many as 9,000 patients per week walk through the clinic doors if all those eligible take up their invitations.

READ MORE: Get free blood pressure check at Festival Place's health hub

Vaccinations can be arranged through appointments on the national booking system. The clinic is also planning for the co-administration of flu boosters for eligible patients aged over 65.

The community-focused Basingstoke Health Hub on Queen Anne’s Walk delivers integrated care to patients across the borough, who can walk in and access a range of health services at any time convenient to them.

The expansion of the Festival Place clinic is part of the NHS’s long-term plan to introduce more integrated care systems (ICS) across the country, by partnering with local authorities and other providers to improve patient satisfaction and more convenient access to services.

It will also support the new Basingstoke hospital planned for 2028 by assessing patients at the clinic and directing them to the right treatment rather than having them wait at the busy hospital or GP surgery. 

Festival Place director Neil Churchill said: “Having an NHS Health Hub on site gives our customers the opportunity to walk in and access a range of community health services any day of the week.

“Demand is growing every day, with people liking the fact they are able to drop in somewhere closer to home and more convenient.

“With a new hospital planned to be built in the town by 2028, this is part of the NHS vision for the future, where the pressure is relieved on busy hospitals and patients are offered more tailored support.”

The Basingstoke Health Hub is open seven days a week, and can be found on the upper level next to Pro Cook. For more details, visit festivalplace.co.uk.