Immunisation

Program Contact Person

Summary

General practice plays a very important role in immunising the Australian community. GPs are in a unique position to encourage and monitor immunisation in children, as GPs see 93% of children in the 0-6 year age group.

IDGP Immunisation Program Goals:

To improve the childhood Immunisation rate of the Illawarra Division area
To improve GP income derived from Immunisation incentives
To achieve and maintain best practice in cold chain procedures

The Division is supporting GPs and practice staff in their important role in promoting and performing immunisation through GP Education, Practice Nurse and Practice Staff Education, assistance with the GPII and ACIR administration and reporting and support in the maintenance of the cold chain and vaccine storage. The Division also works closely with the Illawarra Public Health Unit's Immunisation Coordinator to provide up-to-date and relevant information on immunisation issues to GPs and staff within general practice.

Activities/ Achievements

GP Education

Immunisation education sessions are regularly provided for GPs. Education sessions have been provided to update GPs on changes to the Australian Standard Vaccination Schedule, medico-legal issues in immunisation, new vaccines and travel vaccinations. Immunisation update sessions continue to be provided as new developments emerge in the field of immunisation or as changes to the schedule occur.

Practice Nurse and Practice Staff Education

Practice staff, including nurses, managers and receptionists play an important role in a practice's ability to deliver efficient and effective immunisation services to patients. The Division believes that education for practice staff on immunisation is an important part of our program. The Division provides regular update sessions for practice staff in General Practice. These sessions cover topics such as; changes to administration and reporting processes to the ACIR, improving immunisation coverage rates, changes to the vaccination schedule and new vaccines, correct cold chain procedures and information on immunisation accreditation courses and requirements to maintain accreditation.

Assistance with the GPII and ACIR administration and reporting

The General Practice Immunisation Incentive (GPII) Scheme provides financial incentives to general practitioners who promote and provide age appropriate immunisation services to children under 7 years of age. A Service Incentive Payment (SIP) is paid to GPs who notify ACIR of vaccinations that complete an age-appropriate schedule. Practices can also receive quarterly outcomes payments if their practice is achieving an immunisation coverage rate of over 90%.

General Practices send immunisation information to the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR), which records details of vaccinations given to children under the age of seven. ACIR information is used to determine the immunisation status of children and accordingly, amounts paid under the GPII scheme.

Practice visits:

The Division provides one-on-one support and education to general practices that focus on ACIR administration and reporting requirements and can assist in improving immunisation coverage rates, and therefore, increasing GP income derived from improved outcomes under the immunisation incentive program (GPII). Some of the issues covered during a practice visit include:

Submission of information to the ACIR, including using the Internet for these processes
ACIR forms and procedures
Requesting and using ACIR reports to increase immunisation coverage rates eg GPII Practice Report
Opportunistic immunisation
Patient recall systems

Immunisation Resources

NEW Immunisation Schedule July 2007

Parent Advice Sheet

Comparison of Effects of Vaccines and Diseases

Pre-Vaccination Checklist

Pneumococcal Vaccine for Children Poster

Tips on Using the GPII020A Practice Report

“Opportunistic Immunisation” information sheet

Maintaining the Cold Chain

The "Cold chain" is the system of transporting and storing vaccines within the safe temperature range of 2ºC to 8ºC. Two essential elements of the cold chain system that ensure vaccine recipients receive potent vaccines are:

vaccine storage and distribution; and
transporting and monitoring of vaccines

Vaccines are delicate biological substances that can become less effective or destroyed if they are frozen, allowed to get too hot, or exposed to direct sunlight or fluorescent light. Anyone handling vaccines is responsible for their potency at each step in transport, storage and administration of vaccines, this is why the Division spends time educating GPs and practice staff on cold chain maintenance and offers a monitoring service to practices.

How can you ensure a safe vaccine environment?

Practice visits are an opportunity to provide education and information on storing vaccines and managing the cold chain. During a cold chain practice visit the correct cold chain monitoring processes are checked and discussed with the staff, as is the correct procedures for storing vaccines. The Division offers the practice a temperature data logging service of their vaccine fridge to determine the effectiveness of cold chain maintenance procedures. The fridges are logged for one week and a report is produced to the practice giving feedback about the results with any recommendations.