Prime Minister meets MDX vaccinators on visit to Islington Business Design Centre vaccination hub

MDX lecturers have trained 2400 vaccinators in last 6 months, in tireless and collaborative effort supported by staff from across university

On Tuesday 18th May, Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked vaccinators including MDX Lecturer in Clinical Skills Thobekile (Kelly) Ncube, pictured above, on his visit to the large-scale vaccination hub at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

 

Members of MDX's Adult, Child and Midwifery Department, led by Head of Clinical Skills and Simulation Fiona Suthers, have provided educational support through training and assessing the competency of around 2400 vaccinators for the NHS North Central London area, covering Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Islington and Haringey.

"This project has been a great opportunity for MDX to help our local community, supporting the North London Clinical Commissioning Group and our NHS Trust partners" says Fiona Suthers. "Our nursing team has gone over and above, working tirelessly to make the vaccination drive a success, while also looking after all of their students through an exceptionally challenging year".

 

Fiona adds that it has been a highly collaborative operation, with colleagues from Security, Estates, the Audio-Visual team and Sport all playing their part, eg by supplying equipment and conducting rapid lateral flow tests, and predicts that new projects for the future development of healthcare education may emerge from the experience.

During the visit, where he was shown round by Assistant Chief Nurse and UCLH clinical lead Betty Wynne, Mr Johnson paid tribute to the efforts of the different teams involved in the vaccination effort and encouraged everyone to come forward for their jab.

The Business Design Centre (BDC) is one of five large-scale vaccination site across North Central London where MDX staff have been working. In March, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust partnered with the BDC to convert the site.

Acting CEO of UCLH Tim Jaggard said: “During the visit we demonstrated the #oneteam approach, with volunteers, bank staff, health professionals from UCLH and Middlesex University all working together with the Business Design Centre to make sure as many people as possible can be vaccinated. Thank you to everyone involved for delivering such a great service.”