Childhood Immunisation System to Improve Timeliness and Equity: Quality Improvement Programme

Preschool immunisation rates in London, especially against measles, mumps and rubella, are among the worst in England and at a ten-year low. Too many of London’s children are not fully protected, and this is worse in poorer areas and among certain ethnic groups. We are leading a quality improvement programme to help GP practice teams improve preschool immunisation rates.

Quality Improvement Programme

This quality improvement programme has been launched in North East and South East London, with North West London following later in 2023. Our quality improvement programme centres on a “call and recall” software tool, APL-Imms, (Active Patient Link – Immunisations) which the Clinical Effectiveness Group (CEG) at Queen Mary University of London has developed for use by GP practice teams.

The tool displays all relevant information from the practice’s patient records in one place. Using this tool practice staff can quickly draw up a filtered list of children who are due or overdue for immunisations, and access direct links to vaccine information to inform their conversations with families. The tool supports a patient-centred and systematic approach that makes it easier for practice teams to ensure no child misses out. It is based on evidence that shows that using good methods for contacting parents to bring their children in for vaccination significantly helps ensuring all children get vaccinated.

Additionally, our project team are working closely with parents, NHS staff and local organisations to understand the barriers and concerns that prevent immunisation in young children. From these conversations, we will gain insights on how to improve access to services and better communications with parents to support timely and equitable childhood vaccinations.

Evaluation

We are going to accurately evaluate this quality improvement programme, seeing how feasible and sustainable it will be in the long-term. We will consider whether it has helped to increase the number of children that are vaccinated across North and South East London over 2022-2023. We will also be talking to staff members involved with using the tool, to hear about their experiences and whether they feel it can continue to form part of their daily practice.

Amount awarded: £63,000