What are the key public health initiatives I should be aware of to improve vaccination rates in my practice?

Key public health initiatives to improve vaccination rates in your practice include:

• Opportunistic vaccination offers at multiple healthcare and community contact points such as GP registration, health and developmental reviews, annual learning disability health checks, antenatal and postnatal appointments, care home admissions, community pharmacies, and during home visits or contacts with vulnerable groups like homeless people or new migrants ¹.
• Use of electronic medical records with prompts and reminders to identify and invite eligible patients for vaccination, including sending invitations by the patient’s preferred communication method (letter, email, phone, text) and offering open access clinics or appointments ¹.
• Ensuring vaccination invitations clearly state the vaccines offered, targeted diseases, and that the NHS recommends the vaccination, ideally sent from a known healthcare professional or service to increase acceptability ¹.
• Providing access to online systems or apps for patients and carers to view and check vaccination records to support informed decision-making and follow-up ¹.
• Supporting people who may need additional help with consent or decision-making, such as those with learning disabilities or lacking mental capacity, following NICE guidelines on decision-making and mental capacity ¹.
• Offering home visits for vaccination to people who have difficulty attending clinics, including housebound individuals and those in care homes ¹.
• Recording and respecting vaccination declinations, providing information on how to access vaccination later if the patient changes their mind ¹.
• Coordinating vaccination services across providers to improve access and minimise vaccine wastage, including out-of-hours services and community pharmacies ¹.
• Regular audit and feedback cycles on vaccine uptake data to monitor performance and identify areas for improvement ¹.
• Ongoing education and training for all health and social care practitioners who have contact with eligible patients, even if they do not administer vaccines, to promote vaccination awareness and uptake ¹.
• Engaging local authorities, health visitors, and community or voluntary sectors to identify and vaccinate people not registered with a GP, such as homeless or transient populations ¹.