{
  "abstract": "Situation - Assessment of Problem Paediatric immunisation rates have declined in recent years due to misinformation, reduced access to healthcare professionals, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many parents missed routine vaccination appointments. 1 The urgency of addressing immunisation history gaps was highlighted by an incident involving a patient receiving a live vaccine the day before transplant surgery. This prompted a structured review of vaccination status during medication history taking, recognising the critical role the paediatric Pharmacy Technicians (PT) could play in identifying immunisation anomalies. There was a need to upskill the PT team to undertake this work.Pharmacy team Contribution This quality improvement project was started as part of the BTEC Clinical Diploma course led by a paediatric PT, with the aim of enhancing the identification and communication of missed vaccinations, ensuring timely intervention and improved coordination on the ward, and communication between secondary and primary care.An initial audit of medication histories taken by PT for children admitted to the paediatric wards was undertaken in January 2025. Forty out of the 600 medication histories completed identified children who were not up to date with their vaccinations or had incomplete immunisation records. Informally, parents reported vaccine hesitancy as a key barrier to vaccine uptake. Many parents expressed uncertainty about whether their child could receive vaccinations while unwell or following hospital discharge. Additionally, inconsistencies in documenting immunisation gaps and communicating this information to primary care providers further hindered efforts to improve vaccine uptake.To address these challenges, the project introduced several key interventions:A Critical Thinking Triage Flow Chart to support PT in assessing immunisation status during medication history–taking.A training document detailing high–risk medicines and immunisation considerations, including a reference schedule for ward–based use.Enhanced documentation of immunisation status in the Patient Management system, enabling discussion during consultant–led ward rounds.Improved communication of missed vaccinations from secondary to primary care via electronic discharge notifications (eDAN), ensuring General Practitioners were informed and could arrange catch–up appointments.Conclusion or Lesson Learnt With the training package, including conversation skills, the paediatric PT were able to ascertain accurate immunisation histories and identify gaps in the schedule. They are empowered to have vaccine conversations with parents, referring any complex queries to the pharmacist or doctor on the ward for a conversation to provide personalised vaccine information, addressing hesitancy, and supporting informed decision-making. This approach fostered better communication between healthcare professionals and families, reinforcing the importance of immunisation and ensuring parents had clear follow-up plans. The vaccination gaps are communicated to their primary care provider with permission from the patient and parent or carer on the eDAN. The interventions contribute to national vaccination efforts, working in collaboration with the multi-disciplinary team to support improved public health outcomes.The next step for this project is to engage with the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacy Group’s PT Special Interest Group to share best practice and develop standardised immunisation-related processes.Reference RCPCH (Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health) 2023, Vaccination in the UK - position statement [Internet], assessed: 17 June 2025, available from: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/vaccination-uk-position-statement",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Leeds Children’s Hospital, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Karen Dixon"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Leeds Children’s Hospital, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Penny North-Lewis"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P07 Improving immunisation uptake through pharmacy technician-led interventions",
  "uid": "b1695f12-6dac-5578-bd0e-0f9dde9d8f33"
}