Letter: P

Pertussis in Pregnant Women Vaccination Programme

Purpose and outline

The purpose of the service specification is to enable NHS England to commission pertussis in pregnant women immunisation services of sufficient quantity and quality to prevent the infections and outbreaks caused by these organisms

The JCVI advised that pertussis in pregnant women vaccination programme should be extended for at least 5 years. JCVI considered that immunisation could be offered at one of the routine antenatal appointments and that immunisation within weeks 16 to 32 of pregnancy is likely to be optimal. Immunisation within weeks 16 to 38 of pregnancy may ensure greater overlap between the period of maximal antibody levels in the pregnant woman and the period of trans placental antibody transfer. Offering immunisation from 28 weeks would provide some protection to infants born prematurely who may be particularly vulnerable to complications from pertussis.

How this service is commissioned and provided

Regions commission this service from GP practices.

NHS England service specifications

2025/28: Information about this service

  • Quality service start date: 1 April 2025
  • Quality service end date: 31 March 2028
  • Payment period: Monthly
  • Collection frequency: Monthly
  • Manual or automatic entry: Automatic data collection
  • Included in data collection: All system suppliers (TPP, Medicus and EMIS)
  • System type: Vaccination and Immunisation (V&I)

Service user guides

The Calculating Quality Reporting Service (CQRS) user guides describe how to participate, manually enter and declare achievement for this service.

Physical health checks for people with severe mental illness

Background

NHS England and NHS Improvement is committed to leading work to ensure that “by 2020-21, 280,000 people living with SMI have their physical health needs met by increasing early detection and expanding access to evidence-based physical care assessment and intervention each year”. This equates to a target of 60% of people on the General Practice SMI register receiving a full and comprehensive physical health check across primary and secondary care. To ensure monitoring drives the right clinical behaviour, it is crucial that NHSE and NHSI is able to monitor delivery of the full comprehensive health check and to collect benchmarking information on the uptake of the corresponding relevant follow-up interventions and access to national cancer screening programmes. In addition, in order to understand the impact of the health checks and provide rapid and ongoing policy evaluation, it is important to understand physical health outcomes. Patient-level information is required to monitor these outcomes.

Purpose and outline

The purpose is to calculate, report and pay for activity undertaken in line with contractual agreement.

How this service is commissioned and provided

NHS England service specification, guidance and technical requirements will be published at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/gp/investment/gp-contract/

Information about this service:

  • Participation only in CQRS
  • Quality service start date: 1 April 2020
  • Quality service end date: 31 March 2026
  • Collection frequency: Annually
  • Manual or automatic entry: Manual data collection

Service user guides

The Calculating Quality Reporting Service (CQRS) user guides describe how to participate, manually enter and declare achievement for this service. Activity and achievement should be recorded monthly.

Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccination (PPV) Vaccination Programme

Purpose and outline

The pneumococcal vaccines protect against pneumococcal infections caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumonia. The pneumococcus is one of the most frequently reported causes of bacteraemia and meningitis and it is the commonest cause of community-acquired pneumonia.

Invasive pneumococcal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality and can affect anyone. However, it particularly affects the very young, the elderly and those with impaired immunity or chronic conditions.

This programme delivers vaccinations for patients aged 65 or over and at-risk patients aged 2 years to 64 years inclusive.

PPV is the only vaccine recommended for the patients eligible under this programme (PCV if for smaller children) and only one dose is required per patient which provides life-time cover. For a small number of at-risk patients, vaccination every five years is required.

Practices are only paid for vaccinations carried out by the practice, not for those given by other providers.

How this service is commissioned and provided

Regions commission this service from GP practices.

NHS England service specifications

2025/28: Information about this service

Quality service start date: 1 April 2025

Quality service end date: 31 March 2028

Payment period: Monthly

Collection frequency: Monthly

Manual or automatic entry: Automatic data collection

Included in data collection: All system suppliers (TPP, Medicus and EMIS)

System type: Vaccination and Immunisation (V&I)

    Service user guides

    The Calculating Quality Reporting Service (CQRS) user guides describe how to participate, manually enter and declare achievement for this service.

    PCV Hib/Men C Vaccination Programme

    Purpose and outline

    Routine immunization with PCV13 for infants born on or after January 1, 2020, includes:

    • A single dose at 12 weeks of age.
    • A booster dose at 1 year old (on or after their first birthday).

    For unimmunized or partially immunized children presenting late for vaccination before age 1, administer a single priming dose of PCV13, followed by a booster at 1 year of age (on or after their first birthday), at least 4 weeks after the first dose.

    Children aged 1 year to under 2 years who are unimmunized or partially immunized should receive a single dose of PCV13. Routine immunization with PCV is not offered after the second birthday.

    HiB/MenC Booster Programme: The JCVI announced the discontinuation of Menitorix (Hib/MenC) due to a commercial decision by the manufacturer. Current UK stocks can support the routine schedule until mid-2025.

    How this service is commissioned and provided

    Regions commission this service for GP practices.

    NHS England service specifications

      2025/28: Information about this service

      Quality service start date: 1 April 2025

      Quality service end date: 31 March 2028

      Payment period: Monthly

      Collection frequency: Monthly

      Manual or automatic entry: Automatic data collection

      Included in data collection: All system suppliers (TPP, Medicus and EMIS)

      System type: Vaccination and Immunisation (V&I)

        Service user guides

        The Calculating Quality Reporting Service (CQRS) user guides describe how to participate, manually enter and declare achievement for this service.

        Page updated: 19 February 2025