Duchess of Cornwall visits St Paul’s Vaccination Centre

The Duchess of Cornwall today visited St Paul’s Church in Thornton Heath to thank NHS staff and church representatives supporting the UK vaccination rollout.

Her Royal Highness spoke with staff and local residents receiving their Covid jabs at the vaccination centre which has delivered well over 10,000 vaccinations since January 13.

On arrival Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall was greeted by Dr Agnelo Fernandes, GP lead for Croydon and Gillian Borthwick, Lay Minister at St Paul’s Church.

Her Royal Highness was introduced to NHS staff, clinicians, administrators, volunteer marshals and representatives from the church positioned throughout the church to support those receiving vaccines.

Dr Fernandes, a GP at Parchmore Medical Centre, described the Royal visit as a ‘wonderful boost’.

The Duchess also took the opportunity to meet with those receiving their injection and hear about their experiences.

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While the religious services have moved online at St Paul’s, the church itself has been repurposed to facilitate the rollout of vaccinations in the Croydon area.

Gill Borthwick said: “It was a privilege to welcome the Duchesses of Cornwall to St Paul’s this morning and then to introduce her to Dr Fernandes and the team.

“She spent some time talking to the practitioners, those in the queue waiting for their jabs and visiting the individual  cubicles. 

“It was especially nice as the church is celebrating 150 yrs this year. Everyone in the centre is working as a team and it’s a joy to be part of that and to truly be a church in the community.”

The site which sits within the South West London Health and Care Partnership has delivered both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccinations. 

The NHS in South West London has delivered over 360,000 vaccinations to date. 

The centre is run by two primary care networks (PCN) working together: One Thornton Heath PCN and PCN North PCN grouping, which is made up of a total of 11 GP practices including Parchmore Medical Centre, Brigstock and South Norwood Medical Partnership, Brigstock Family Practice, Leander Road Primary Care Centre, Mersham Medical Centre  and Thornton Heath Medical Centre.

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