Vaccine Transformation Programme.
The delivery of travel vaccines in Scotland changed from April 2022, moving away from General Practice.
To try and help manage the GP workload and make sure GPs used their skills in the best way the Scottish Government along with GPs agreed that giving vaccination needed to be moved away from General Practice.
This page will provide you with further information on what happened in Lothian.
Background
The delivery of travel vaccines in Scotland changed from April 2022, moving away from General Practice.
To try and help manage the GP workload and make sure GPs used their skills in the best way the Scottish Government along with GPs agreed that giving vaccination needed to be moved away from General Practice.
You may have already noticed that your GP no longer provides flu vaccination clinics, and these are now run by health board staff, usually in different venues. In a similar way a travel health service has now been developed in Lothian. The NHS Travel Clinic Hub is based at the Regional Infectious Diseases Unit at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, with additional clinics available across Lothian.
Some travel vaccines may be provided for free by the NHS
The following travel vaccines are available free on the NHS for the purpose of travel to patients living in Scotland. Those registered in NHS Lothian will be able to access them via the NHS Lothian travel health clinics.
These vaccines are free because they protect against diseases thought to represent the greatest risk to public health if they were brought back into the UK:
- Revaxis (Diphtheria, tetanus and polio)
- Typhoid
- Hepatitis A
- Cholera
Please note, though, that patients from other NHS health boards will be charged for these vaccines. All other vaccines, medications and services are also chargeable.
NHS Lothian Travel Health Service
You will get lots of general travel health information from the National Scottish website – Fit for Travel (It is important that you read through the information here first before arranging a travel consultation.
Travel clinic appointments should ideally take place at least 8 weeks (or more) before you intend on travelling to ensure any vaccinations provided take full effect before your trip.
If you are unable to get an appointment with us in time for your trip you also have the option of consulting one of the many alternative private, charity and NHS travel health service providers available across Lothian.
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