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NHS has begun work on national vaccination service

NHS has begun work on national vaccination service

A ‘long-term NHS vaccination service’ is now under development, NHS England documents have revealed.

In January, the health secretary told MPs that a ‘national vaccination service’ is needed to ensure GPs are not asked to stop routine care again, as they did during the Covid vaccination programme.

Controversially, he also suggested the service could cover ‘other vaccines’ as well as Covid jabs – potentially representing a huge shake-up to GP funding.

At the time, he said the elective recovery plan would set out further details, but there was no sign of these when the plan was finally published.

Now new NHS England board papers, published yesterday, revealed that the development of a vaccination service ‘has commenced’, suggesting that it would include ‘alignment and co-administration’ of vaccines.

The document said: ‘Opportunities for alignment and co-administration including catch up across all our vaccination programmes continues and the development of a long-term NHS Vaccination service has commenced.’

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Details were scant and it remains unclear who will staff the service and which vaccinations it will cover.

But the papers added that NHS England is working with NHS Digital and NHS X to ‘design a vision and a future operating model that works across Covid-19, flu and wider routine immunisations’ for the ‘longer term’.

The papers also said a campaign will launch in the next three months to increase uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, amid a measles surge.

And they said that work ‘continues to increase uptake of the [Covid] vaccination offer by pregnant women, non-age based high-risk cohorts’ as well as on ‘increasing confidence in under-served communities like African and Black Caribbean as well as Pakistani communities to maximise uptake’. 

It comes as the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) yesterday issued an interim recommendation that certain at-risk groups should receive another Covid booster vaccine in the autumn.

It remains unclear who will deliver the programme and what involvement GP practices will have, as the PCN enhanced service is due to expire in September.

Pulse revealed last month that stricter targets targets would see a number of GP practices lose tens of thousands in income from child immunisations.


          

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READERS' COMMENTS [8]

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Turn out The Lights 20 May, 2022 5:48 pm

Same as the work on ooH IN THE MID 2000s, a poorer performing service costing 4 times as much, these idiot really do have the reverse midas touch.

Dave Haddock 20 May, 2022 7:33 pm

Private Contractors thriving in Jersey – unburdened by the dead hand of the NHS.

Vinci Ho 20 May, 2022 10:19 pm

Ok , I would give benefit of doubt to some extent but :
(1) The document said: ‘Opportunities for alignment and co-administration including catch up across all our vaccination programmes continues and the development of a long-term NHS Vaccination service has commenced.’
Is that another typical rhetorical , meaningless and disjointed statement made by NHS England ? And does this really help anyone , GPs and our patients?
(2) ‘design a vision and a future operating model that works across Covid-19, flu and wider routine immunisations’ for the ‘longer term’.
Fine , vision is again another clique word but the details of the operation model , only if realistic, is the ultimate answer we are looking for . One logistical problem initially in phase 1 and 2 Covid Vaccination Programme(CVP) was strict , inflexible time of storing and giving Pfizer vaccines in three days , for instance . Obviously , if the technology is available as such supplying the Covid vaccines, storage and their administration will be the same as most commonly given vaccines like flu jabs , the impact on GP’s time and space will be much lessened and they can concentrate on non-Covid to help the post pandemic recovery. Small practical details can cast a long shadow and significant impact on our colleagues working at the frontline. I can only hope these policy makers will relearn these words seriously , common sense and reality .
(3) The other issue is the way financial payment being paid to GPs/PCNs . The targets or threshold before any payment will come is often unrealistic and only politically correct . PCNs , especially small ones , in well deprived areas will suffer the most . Significant number of patients and parents are just not coming for vaccination, mo matter how hard our colleagues try . Why do they have to carry on if financial rewards will not be acquired as long as these unrealistic targets ate not reached
At the end , the old habit of ‘one size fits all’ is re-haunting the house .Our most respected Julian Tudor Hart’s Inverse Care Law , once again , is applied . These vaccination targets ( or other targets like in Investment and Impact Funds IIFs ) are accelerating rather than alleviating heathy inequality across different areas in the country . Colleagues in more resourceful , affluent areas may find it difficult to share the mentality of those inextricably underfunded, well-deprived areas . And the opposite is also true 😑

David jenkins 21 May, 2022 11:10 am

love to help – sounds easy, worthwhile work. no nights, no heavy lifting etc etc

unfortunately i can’t. despite qualifying in 1976, running a rural, dispensing, single handed practice in wales for over 30 years, i’m not allowed to give covid jabs………..because i haven’t been trained !!!

do, please, let me know if you need my help, but in the meantime i shall be out in my workshop restoring my 1939 wolseley ten !

Vinci Ho 21 May, 2022 2:48 pm

To be honest , how difficult is it to get retrained to give jabs?
When I was still a PCN CD last year when we had to deliver 1st and 2nd doses Covid-vaccines, we used a model of having one vaccinator with admin staff(for Pinnacle system ) . We constantly used 4 to 5 rooms in one of our six PCN practices.
I was very grateful that a well retired lady GP colleague was willing to come to help . I was foolish to insist using GP or nurse colleagues as vaccinators. She was full time GP partner prior to retirement long ago . It was really all the cumbersome , politically correct paperwork I had to sign for her , physically present , on a few supervised sessions(I was in the vaccination site 99% of time anyway) Then she was flying and became one of our frequently and promptly attending vaccinator . Enthusiastic, diligent and well respected . I think she is now vaccinating regularly in her brother’s surgery.
Of course , that is the past but a proud memory with our achievements 😇 , although our PCN has now been disbanded after my resignation. 😑

David jenkins 21 May, 2022 3:38 pm

VH

i don’t need to be “retrained” – i’m still working, giving every other jab. just “not allowed to give covid jabs ‘cos i’m not trained” – work that one out !!

Vinci Ho 21 May, 2022 5:51 pm

My apology and misunderstanding 🙏
My lady colleague was supervised by myself only for giving Covid 19 vaccines . I signed the forms and after a few sessions , she was giving Covid vaccines herself independently
Obviously, the process of ‘training’ colleagues like yourself now may or may not be simplified further now 😎