Impact of a collaborative immunisation programme in an inner city practice

Objectives: To describe the impact of a collaborative immunisation programme, between an inner city practice and the Eastern Health Board (EHB). Design: An observational study using a computer database formed from practice and EHB records. Setting: One Dublin inner city practice with three partners located in an area with a deprived socio-economic profile. Subjects: All patients in the practice aged more than six months and less than five years identified both from practice registers and opportunistically during study period. Results: 342 children, older than six months and less than five years were identified at start and 464 (a 36% increase) by end of the programme. Uptake changed for DPT from 30% before, to 57% after the programme (p<0.0005), for DT from 15% to 13%, for Hib from 7% to 50% (p<0.0005) and for MMR (over 15 months) from 53% to 75% (p<0.0005). Uptake of the DPT, Hib and MMR was 35% among CMS eligible, 51 % among CMS ineligible (p<0.005). Conclusion: A collaborative immunisation programme significantly improved practice uptake rates. These improved rates still do not attain declared national targets. To achieve these targets. radical overhaul of the immunisation service is required.