Important Operational Communication: Childhood Immunisations 12m MMR and PCV10 Good morning, We are all aware how challenging a significant change in the Childhood Immunisation Schedule can be for GP Practice workload. NIR have been working closely with the General Practice Liaison team at WBOP PHO/EBPHA and your Childhood Immunisation Coordinators to ensure you have the support and time you need to identify and make contact with clients who are now requiring 12m immunisation under the new schedule effective 1 October. 12m immunisations are classed by MoH on NIR as overdue at 13.5m but currently have the same health target milestone age of 2yr as the 15m immunisations. They will not be classed as ‘missed’ until 2yrs of age.
To support General Practice we have collaboratively created the following protocols: •
Overdue 12m immunisations will not be currently included on ImmsNet Overdue reports. This will leave GP practices with their usual core overdue reports to work through, it also removes multiple overdue messages for 12m imms for clients who you will already identify through building a catch-up list on your PMS using a query build.
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As there is no target for 12m imms please leave until the 15m overdue referral date (18m) to refer to Outreach Immunisation Service (OIS). This can be achieved through referring on the overdue 15m on ImmsNet. If not listed on ImmsNet please email NIRBOP@bopdhb.govt.nz – we are here to help and support - making this transition as easy as possible for you. Caregiver requests for OIS should be referred immediately as per current protocols
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Please refer as quickly as possible after 18m overdue timeline – this will give our Childhood Immunisation Liaison (Katie Natusch) time to investigate and contact caregivers and hopefully ensure they visit your practice for immunisations. Make sure to check you ‘Secure Inbox’ on ImmsNet for outcomes of your referrals.
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Should the client not return to GP for immunisation there is plenty of time to re-refer to OIS on the following overdue report. OIS can deliver both sets of immunisations (12m and 15m) prior to 2yr milestone age. This will ensure you don’t have to generate a new referral for 15m immunisation. Our aim is to work collectively between PHO and NIR to support imms delivery through General Practice while creating a referral pathway that captures those who genuinely require outreach services. We hope you find the above protocols of help. Thank you on behalf of the BOPDHB NIR Team, WBOP PHO, EBPHA and Childhood Immunisation Coordinators.