AROUND 300 patients with respiratory illnesses and other conditions will now be forced to travel out of Inverclyde for some vaccinations.

Councillor Martin McCluskey, who represents the area on the health board, has raised the alarm over the situation and is calling for action from officials.

He wants to know why local residents are now having to go to Paisley and Glasgow for 'ad hoc' jabs which were once administered at their local surgeries.

It follows a decision to create centralised vaccination clinics and take the responsibility away from GPs.

The health board has apologised to those affected, but has not yet committed to a timeframe for putting a local service in place.

Councillor McCluskey said: "People with respiratory illnesses are now routinely sent to the RAH or to the Central Mosque in Glasgow for the Haemophilus influenzae (Hib) vaccination and other such jabs.

"This is not right, as they used to be able to go to their GP surgery.

"There needs to be action to make sure that local vaccination centres are available."

Councillor McCluskey is pushing for answers on when there will be a local option for vaccinations outwith the clinics set up for Covid and flu jabs.

Health and social care officers say that so far around 70 patients have travelled elsewhere to have their 'ad hoc' vaccinations administered at clinics since April.

As part of changes to GP contracts - negotiated five years ago and now being implemented - a new way of delivering vaccinations was set up, moving away from local surgeries.

A number of 'ad hoc' adult vaccinations are now carried out in hubs like the Glasgow mosque.

After being contacted by the Tele, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde said: "We’re sorry for any travel inconvenience that has been caused for patients looking to receive vaccinations.

"Following national vaccination delivery changes, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde staff have been undertaking further training to enable the rollout of more specialist vaccines locally.

"In order to offer people appointments as quickly as possible, these vaccinations have continued at one of our Glasgow sites.

"We intend to deliver these types of vaccinations across our centres later this year with selected sites, including Port Glasgow Town Hall, already offering local residents the shingles vaccine."