6 focus areas proven to optimise uptake BEST PRACTICE CHILDHOOD IMMUNISATION GUIDE 6 focus areas proven to optimise uptake

6 focus areas proven to optimise uptake of immunisations Strong leadership Proactive promotion Maintain accurate information Effective call/recall Maximise access and continuity Trained and knowledgeable workforce

1. Strong Leadership Appoint a designated practice lead for immunisations (see Appendix 1) Adopt a multi-disciplinary team approach Discuss children/families who persistently miss appointments in practice meetings and routinely liaise with health visitors Plan ahead Strive for continuity of care

2. Proactive Promotion Promote vaccinations within the surgery, for example using national resources https://www.orderline.dh.gov.uk/eco m_dh/public/home.jsf Have conversation starters in reception e.g. the ‘MMR bear’

3. Maintain accurate information Maintain accurate immunisations records Always check the immunisation status of new registrations (and share this information with CHIS – Child Health Information Service) Send regular information to CHIS of children moving in and out, and any vaccinations given

Maintain accurate information (contd) Routinely check the immunisation status and eligibility of all patients during health appointments Schedule regular searches of the IT system (e.g. quarterly) to identify and follow up patients with outstanding immunisations or who have DNA’d (and their parents as appropriate) - ensure this is highlighted in the notes Set up IT system alerts on patient records as a reminder to encourage parents if there are outstanding vaccinations

4. Effective call/recall Adopt a call–recall chain of escalation Be flexible to patient needs Minimise/eliminate vaccination waiting lists Put in place a vaccination DNA management policy Consider text messaging, ‘birthday cards’, ‘parties’ and other innovations

5. Maximise access and continuity Ensure clinics (and the practice as a whole) are child and family friendly Review the immunisation clinics to see if improvements can be made (e.g. extended clinic/opening times, no waiting lists) Maximise opportunistic vaccination – make every contact count

Maximise access and continuity (contd) Ensure access to language and learning development support is readily available Ensure sufficient vaccine stock, safe storage and availability during clinics Keep the cold chain policy up- to-date Be proactive about understanding and addressing barriers to access and inequalities – Appendix 3

6. Trained and knowledgeable workforce Ensure that all immunisers are up- to-date with training (and provide general immunisation training to reception staff) https://www.england.nhs.uk/south/i nfo-professional/public- health/training/ Remember your ‘8 Rs’ (Royal College of Nursing guidance) – Appendix 2 Train and develop staff that will be responsible for ensuring uptake is optimised Use friendly competition  

Trained and knowledgeable workforce (contd) Sign up to Vaccine Update to be aware of any national issues or changes https://www.gov.uk/government/collectio ns/vaccine-update Save useful internet links as favourites so you can find them easily, such as the incomplete immunisation sheet https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ons/vaccination-of-individuals-with- uncertain-or-incomplete-immunisation- status

Support Support If you would like any support or more information, please contact the SW screening and immunisation team: england.swscreeningandimms@nhs.net  

a practice lead for immunisations Appendix 1: Appoint a practice lead for immunisations a practice lead for immunisations   The responsibilities of the practice lead should include (not limited to):

a practice lead for immunisations Appendix 2: Remember your ‘8 Rs’ https://www.rcn.org.uk/-/media/royal-college-of-nursing/documents/publications/2018/october/pdf-007201.pdf a practice lead for immunisations  

Appendix 3: Inequalities What are the needs of your local population – how would you find this out? Who doesn’t attend/engage - how can you find out why? What could the barriers to access be? Inequalities are seen across a range of dimensions like: age, gender, ethnicity, disability, geography, socio-economic factors (wealth, education, language) Specific groups may be more vulnerable such as people with learning disabilities, informal carers, looked-after children How can the practice: Improve access to services and information? Engage communities? Target specific groups? Collect better data or evidence? Be proactive: Prepare, Assess, Refine, Apply, Review!