NHS England announced in a letter dated 30th August 2023 that the Seasonal Influenza and COVID vaccination programmes for 2023/24 are now to be brought forward. (Previous guidance issued in August had been to start the flu campaign from early October).
The new dates are as follows:
- From 1 September 2023 – flu vaccinations may start for 2-3 year olds, school-age children (reception to year 11) and children in clinical risk groups
- From 11 September 2023 – vaccination should commence for care home residents and staff, and also for housebound patients. There is an expectation that all residents will have been vaccinated by 22 October 2023
- From 11 September 2023 - COVID-19 and flu vaccinations can begin for those eligible via Local Booking Systems (LBS). Patients who are most at risk should be prioritised for vaccination.
Many vaccination delivery sites have already started to fill scheduled clinics. The BMA has released some guidance that states practices should proceed with any flu clinics that have already been arranged and to continue contacting eligible patients to fill these scheduled clinics.
The eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination has been updated and now is more in line with seasonal flu eligibility.
Ardens Seasonal Influenza resources have all now been updated in accordance with the latest guidance from the National Flu Immunisation Programme (Public Health England) and the Green Book Chapter 19.
Flu Searches 2023/24
Ardens has designed a comprehensive suite of searches to support practices with call/recall, data quality, monitoring and claims. Please see the following support article on how to access and use the searches.
Ardens Flu Protocol
Ardens has created a flu protocol to help clinicians ensure they are recording the correct vaccination codes for payment. The protocol is launched within a patient record and automatically applies the correct coding when the appropriate options are selected.
Initial Set-up
In order to include the practice batch numbers and expiry dates, the protocol initially needs editing. For details on how to do this, please click on the relevant support articles:
Recording vaccinations using the Ardens Protocol
Once the protocol has been edited as above, this is now ready for practice staff to use in a patient record.
Each individual staff member, will need to ensure the Flu Vaccine Administration 2023-24 protocol is added to their F12 key. Details on how to do this can be accessed in the following support article.
Once the protocol has been added, to launch, press the F12 key to bring up the protocol launcher:
Then double-click on the ‘Flu Vaccine Administration 2023-24’ to run the protocol. This will open a consultation and display the following multiple choice question box:
Please note - this protocol does not check for eligibility.
If the patient is eligible click on the "Eligible for NHS vaccine and has consented" option to add the vaccine.
If the patient is NOT clinically eligible but will still receive the vaccine, click on the "Not eligible but clinically indicated" option to add the vaccine, this will automatically add the 90X4 code.
Once either of these options are selected, this will display the following multiple choice question box, select the appropriate option to add the vaccine (or view the guidance):
If you select the Live attenuated influenza vaccine administered option, you are then presented with a box displaying Green Book information:
Clicking OK displays an information box relating to contraindications:
Click OK and select either Yes or No to confirm there are no contraindications:
When selecting Yes, you are then presented with the multiple choice box to record details for the vaccine given. For Adjuvanted quadrivalent vaccine and Quadrivalent vaccine selections you will not see the above boxes but will automatically be presented with the multiple choice box to record details for the vaccine given:
Complete the remaining prompts to add the details and appropriate codes to the patients record.
Please remember to ensure you have double-checked for allergies and contraindications and that you are giving the appropriate vaccine for the patient in front of you.
Once complete, please ensure you SAVE the consultation.
If you require any further assistance on the process above, please contact Ardens support on: