To support the recent changes to the Shingles vaccination programme from the 1st Sept 2023 (further information can be accessed here), Ardens has provided practices with recall searches to help identify eligible patients to call in, along with data quality searches to support accurate recording of data.


To locate the searches, navigate to the Population Reporting module > Ardens Searches > 3.23 Vaccinations - Shingles search folder:



The search folder is broken down by the following sub folders:


1. Review before inviting

In order to invite the correct 'severely immunocompromised' patients practices will need to action this folder before inviting patients. 


The first search identifies patients over 50 years that may be immunocompromised (according to the GPES payment extract codes) that have had a 1st dose of Shingles, practices are advised to review this list of patients and if the patient requires a second dose to add code 'Requires vaccination against shingles - 1730561000000103' (code to be added with today's date). This is to ensure that the immunocompromised patients are recalled at the right interval. 



The second search identifies patients over 50 years that may be immunocompromised (according to the GPES payment extract codes) that have not had any dose of Shingles. Practices are required to review this list and add code 'Requires vaccination against shingles - 1730561000000103' (code to be added with today's date) if the patient requires the vaccine.



If practices would like to investigate further why patients are appearing as 'may be immunocompromised', the categories are provided in the following folder.



Please note - if patients do not require a Shingles vaccine, there are no further codes to add. Note that these patients will still appear in the search results. 


2. Coded requires shingles vaccine

The following folder will identify patients aged 50 years and over coded with 'Requires vaccination against shingles - 173561000000103'. Results may display as '0' if the work has not been completed in folder 1.


The folder is broken down by those patients who require a 1st dose of Shingrix and those that require a 2nd dose (based on recommended interval between vaccines for immunocompromised patients). Invite accordingly. 




3. Eligible due to age

The following search folder will display patients aged 65 and 70 only and 71 to 80 only when they reach the eligible age.

  • Due 1st dose - Shingrix (65y + 70y only) - includes patients aged 65 AND 70 years (after 1st Sept 2023) who are eligible for a first dose of Shingrix. 
  • Due 2nd dose - Shingrix - includes all patients that have had a 1st dose of Shingrix and are now due the 2nd dose. Business rules (and therefore payment) state this should be 6-12 months after the 1st dose (please note this differs to  Green Book guidance which advise this may be given from 2 months after the 1st dose). Patients can be vaccinated with the 2nd dose up to the age of 81 years.
  • Due Zostavax until stocks deplete (71y - 80y) - includes patients aged 71-80 years who were previously eligible (before 1st Sept 2023) who require 1 dose of Zostavax (or a 1st dose of Shingrix once Zostavax stock has depleted).
  • Housebound/EOL/Care Home - separates patients that are housebound, EOL or living in a care home for practices to manage accordingly. 


Invite the patients accordingly using the searches provided.



Important - when running all the above searches we suggest running the searches with a relative run date for the day of the planned clinic. This will then return all patients that are the eligible age on that day, avoiding calling patients in too early and payment being missed.


4. Data Quality

This search folder will highlight any inaccuracy of data recording.


The below search will identify patients coded with a Shingles contraindication code before Shingrix had been offered. Practices may wish to review these patients to decide if a further contraindication code needed to be added or if the patient needs to be manually recalled for a 1st and 2nd dose of Shingrix. Patients with a contraindication code will be excluded from the recall searches.



The below searches identify where the vaccine has been coded in error with Zostavax. Practices should review these patients and consider re-coding with Shingrix as they will not be recalled for their second vaccine.



The below searches will identify patients vaccinated before they became eligible. Practices should review these patients and consult to the Green Book as they may need re-vaccinating 1 year after the previous vaccine.



The Immunosuppression bug-fix folder contains searches to assist practices to identify patients who may have been incorrectly included in the eligibility searches.  Further information can be found in this email. 

  • Invited since 14 Jul 23 but not eligible (not vaccinated) - this search identifies patients to be contacted to explain that are not eligible for shingles vaccine at this time.  The subsequent report will display the date of the invite and whether the patient has any future appointments booked.
  • Vaccinated since 14 Jul 23 but not eligible - this search identifies patients who may have received the shingles vaccine early.  We suggest using the report to view the date of vaccination and add the ‘Requires vaccination against shingles’ code on that date to ensure payment.  Please note that there is no additional clinical risk to the patient if they have received the shingles vaccine early.





 If you require any further assistance on the process above, please contact Ardens support on: support-emis@ardens.org.uk