GP leaders in South West London have expressed their concerns over "inadequate" supplies of Covid-19 vaccine doses at their clinics, fearing the shots are being redirected to mass vaccination centres at their expense.

That's according to a new report published in the Health Service Journal (HSJ).

The report featured extracts from a letter by South West London Primary Care Provider Alliance and seen by HSJ, claiming there was “no transparency” in decisions about the allocation of vaccine supply and criticised a “lack of clarity” from NHS England.

The alliance of GP federations also raised concerns that duplication by mass vaccination sites, now known officially as “NHS vaccination centres”, could increase vaccine wastage.

That's due to people double-booking appointments due to multiple invites, according to the authors:

"We are already seeing this," the letter quoted by HSJ said.

"This does not represent value for money and is an inefficient, wasteful use of available resources."

The letter was reportedly sent last week to Nikki Kanani, NHSE’s medical director of primary care, Vin Diwakar, medical director of the NHS’ London region, and Liz Wise, who is director of primary care commissioning for London’s NHS.

It arrived as new data also published by the HSJ showed London lagging behind other regions with regards to the percentage of its population vaccinated.

The letter continued: "Our primary care-led services are receiving inadequate or no vaccine supply, and there is no transparency regarding how decisions on allocation of vaccine supply are being made.

"This represents a significant risk to the successful delivery of a programme as our services should be empowered to be outcome-focused and data-driven."

The letter meanwhile praised vaccination efforts so far by primary care in south west London, which it said had been “extremely successful”.

It was signed by SWLPPA’s lead chief executive Graham McKenzie, its lead medical director Sayanthan Ganesaratnam and chair Anthony Hughes, among others.

In response, NHS London said in a statement: "Vaccination sites in south west London were identified with advice from local authorities early on, and further sites have opened in the last week to help accelerate vaccinations in London so as to catch up with the rest of the country, which is now successfully happening.

"All sites are getting their fair share of supplies to vaccinate the top four priority groups outlined by the JCVI by mid-February, and PCNs in southwest London continue to play their important part in the success of the programme, just as they do across England."

To view the HSJ report in full, click here.