Bristol Immunisation Group review of 2014-15

Professor Adam Finn, Dr Julie Yates and Dr Marion Roderick, Directors of the Bristol Immunisation Group Health Integration Team (HIT) give an update on the HIT’s progress in 2014-15.

The UK’s immunisation programme is expanding and changing to
deliver the latest vaccines to the population, preventing serious diseases.
Bristol faces specific challenges in delivering the programme in an accessible,
equitable way to the population who needs it.

The Bristol immunisation group (BIG HIT) aims to strengthen
and support our child health database, the backbone for organising the delivery
and monitoring of childhood immunisation. We also aim to improve the programme
by developing school-based immunisation and identifying vulnerable areas of the
programme for targeted action. We will also provide a forum through which
collaborative research in immunisation delivery, mapping and technological
advances can be used to strengthen the immunisation process.

Still in our first year, we are completing a variety of
reports to enable us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our
immunisation programme, including an immunisation health needs assessment,
mapping of immunisation training needs, identifying clear pathways for
hepatitis B, BCG and immunisation in pregnancy.