Dom Tristram's Soapbox

Earlier this week I had an appointment to go to my GP for my annual flu and Covid vaccinations. The vaccinations themselves were very well organised and I was in and out of the surgery within five minutes.On the walk home I started to think about how lucky I am, compared with so many in the UK, that I can walk from my front door to my GP in less than five minutes. It made the whole thing take less than quarter of an hour. How long would it have taken if I had been forced to drive? How many people would find attending their vaccinations difficult if they had to? This is especially important for seasonal vaccinations given that many of the people receiving them are older.The concept of a 15 minute city is very simple: all necessary services should be within 15 minutes active travel from your home. Obviously this is difficult to achieve in rural areas, but in anything larger than a small town it is absolutely possible. Not only is it possible, but it is desirable - why shouldn’t everyone enjoy what I experienced