A PERSHORE pensioner has called for better local information on Covid-19 vaccines after being directed to Birmingham for his jab by the NHS website.

Alan Ellis, 83, has since been offered the inoculation at Abbottswood Medical Centre in Pershore but only having been left concerned over having to make a 40-mile round trip.

Some vaccinations have been taking place there with other Pershore residents asked to go to Upton-upon-Severn.

Mr Ellis said he had found the experience "off-putting" but his main concern centres around elderly people without digital skills feeling left in the dark

"I had a letter from the NHS, not Abbotswood, and when I went online it kept trying to fob me off with a place in Birmingham," he explained.

"I tried the Pershore postcode and the Upton postcode, where they were doing them originally, but it still kept coming back telling me I could book something in Birmingham.

"In the end I managed to get through to Abbotswood and they got me one for Friday.

"I am 83, I am okay with modern technology but a lot of people haven't got a computer.

"They could tell you what they are doing in Evesham or Pershore, where they are going to do vaccines and how to get the details.

"I found it very off-putting. It has been amended now and the main thing is I am getting the injection, the sooner the better, and hopefully people can get there."

A spokesperson for GP federation SW Healthcare, a collaboration for all 32 GP surgeries across South Worcestershire to share responsibility for matters such as safety and clinical governance, said: “The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine in Pershore is well on track with local GP surgeries now offering appointments to patients in addition to the existing site in Upton.

"Patients will be contacted via letter, text, or telephone for their appointment so we are asking them not to contact their surgery until they are called forward in order to help us vaccinate those who need it first.”

A spokesperson for NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group said: "The vaccination centres are an additional option for people to get vaccinated if it is convenient for them.

"If it is not, they can instead be jabbed at one of their more local vaccination centres in the coming weeks or wait to hear from their GP surgery."