A quantitative review of healthcare professionals' questions to a local immunization advice service: 4299 enquiries from 3 years

Journal article

Background Immunization advice services can support health professionals by providing rapid access to accurate and reliable current information and advice. The Vaccine Advice for Clinicians Service (VACCSline) is a service for health professionals working within the Thames Valley Area of the UK.

Methods We reviewed all 4299 enquiries received by VACCSline over 3 years. Queries were summarized by vaccine type and topic of enquiry. Associations with profession and workplace of the enquirer were tested using Fisher's exact tests.

Results Incomplete immunization status and non-UK schedules were the most common topics of enquiry. Practice nurses were the main service users followed by doctors. Enquiries varied by professional role. Alterations to the immunization programme led to temporary changes to enquiry content and some more persistent adjustments in the balance of enquiries were identified, such as an increase in enquiries relating to vaccination in pregnancy.

Conclusions The content of enquiries to VACCSline is broad, confirming the need for immunizers to have a wide knowledge base and access to specialist advice to assist with complex scenarios. Systematic data capture provided intelligence to guide training and materials to support immunizers. A wider networked application of this approach could improve support for immunizers.

Authors: Ford, KJ; Lang, S; Pollard, A; McCarthy, ND

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Journal: Journal of Public Health
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 578–584
• Publication date: 2015-08-27
• DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdv112
• EISSN: 1741-3850
• ISSN: 1741-3842
• Language: English
• Keywords: public health; immunization