Labour leader makes surprise visit to Northumberland GP surgery

The opposition chief had been at the Hadston House community project, to hear from some of the families worst affected by last month’s Storm Arwen.

And on his way out, he stopped by the Coquet Medical Group’s Broomhill Health Centre, to praise workers dishing out vaccines in an attempt to slow the spread of the latest Covid-19 variant.

“You’re doing an amazing job for people’s health and keeping the variant under control,” Starmer said, while also revealing he had recently had his own booster jab.

“My wife works for the NHS and it’s not been an easy couple of years, we just need to get everyone through.

“I spoke to [UK chief medical adviser] Chris Whitty and [UK chief scientific adviser] Patrick Vallance and I’m convinced that it’s getting the booster to people that will get this under control.”

Starmer also remembered to keep his mask on while speaking to NHS staff, something Prime Minster Boris Johnson had to be repeatedly reminded about when visiting Hexham Hospital earlier this year.

Since the Covid-19 vaccine roll out started last year, Northumberland has consistently had one of the highest take up rates of any part of the UK and has been the top performing local authority in England.

However, the rise of the Omicron strain of the disease has prompted a renewed push to dish out jabs and booster shots, with health chiefs for the county warning official case numbers are likely to be just the “tip of the iceberg”.

Plan B rules for face coverings, Covid passports and working from home arrangements are being rolled out.

But speaking to reporters, Labour boss Starmer warned the Prime Minister was now a “threat to public health”, as a row about potentially lockdown-flouting parties in Downing Street last year threatened to undermine the message.

Following the visit, surgery doctor Ben Burville said: “[The booster programme] is incredibly important – we’re vaccinating while maintaining general practice services.

“There’s a huge amount of pressure on our staff, who have been working for almost two years of this pandemic now.

“Our priority is to make sure we’re also seeing people with cancer, sick kids, people with depression.”

James Harrison