An NHS announcement about the Shingles vaccine prompted ITV News to seek out Dr Ben Sinclair, Founder of Dr Finlay’s Private Practice.
In Autumn 2023, almost a million more people became eligible for the Shingles vaccination and Dr Ben was filmed in Birmingham to comment on the matter for a news bulletin.
Having himself suffered from Shingles in the past, Dr Ben was able to speak from first-hand experience. And he was able to alert TV viewers to the fact that Shingles can be particularly unpleasant, especially if patients encounter it later in life.
Shingles can affect one in four adults, so the conversation between Dr Ben Sinclair and ITV News journalist and filmmaker Ellie-Rose Griffiths potentially affected millions of viewers in the region and further afield nationally.
The team at Dr Finlay’s see patients at its Edgbaston surgery, at The Consulting Rooms in Harborne Road, but on this occasion the ITV film team arranged to meet Dr Ben at his Birmingham surgery in The Colmore Building, 20 Colmore Circus.
Dr Ben was asked to comment on the recent NHS announcement that the shingles vaccine is now being offered to almost one million more people in the UK.
Anyone who turned 65 from the beginning of September 2023 and the over-50s who are deemed clinically vulnerable can now join the over-70s to get free access to the vaccine.
Although Shingles cannot be caught from other people, it can occur at any age. The risk and severity of Shingles and its complications increase with age and is higher in individuals who have a severely weakened immune system.
Emphasising the prudence of seeking the Shingles vaccination, Dr Ben told ITV News viewers: “We are seeing quite a few immune-suppressed people, and people who are stressed and rundown and their immune system is low. They are far more likely to get this condition.
“It is actually responsible for quite a few complications. So it might give you fatigue, eye pain, ear pain, or deafness, or even facial paralysis. Or, in the worst-case scenario, you can even die if you have a chickenpox meningitis.”
If you have any questions or concerns about Shingles, please get in touch with us by emailing team@drfinlays.co.uk