6729 A jab well done – are we missing the opportunity to improve catch-up vaccination uptake in the PED?

Objectives Evidence shows that multi-strategy approaches with combination interventions increase immunisation uptake.¹ With suboptimal childhood vaccination coverage and resurgence of measles in the UK, improving vaccine uptake within the paediatric population is urgently required.² Many parents are unaware that catch-up vaccinations are an option if their child has missed the initial vaccination window.³ The paediatric emergency department (PED) could represent a unique opportunity to provide valuable education regarding catch-up vaccinations and to potentially provide these vaccinations for eligible children. Immunisation status is an important aspect of the standard paediatric clerking. Face-to-face interactions which inform parents about vaccinations increases uptake, further highlighting the importance of exploring immunisation status within PED.⁴ Our study aims to identify if there were missed opportunities within PED to explore vaccination status and educate parents about opportunistic catch-up vaccinations. Methods This retrospective audit of all children and young people (CYP) who attended PED over five days was conducted in a DGH. Data collected included whether immunisation status was documented for each CYP, and potential eligibility for a catch-up vaccination if required. Results There were 447 PED attendances over five days, of which 285/447 (64%) were potentially eligible for a catch-up immunisation if required (e.g., CYP with minor injuries or non-febrile illnesses). PEM/EM clinicians and senior nurses (e.g., ENPs/ANPs) represent the team most likely to encounter potentially eligible children, with 247/285 (87%) initially seen by the PED team, 22/285 (8%) by 'paediatrics' and 16/285 (5%) by 'another speciality'. Regarding immunisation status, 164/447 (37%) had this documented; of which 1/164 (<1%) were unvaccinated. The PED team saw 356/445 (80%), of which 147/356 (41%) had immunisation status documented. The paediatrics team saw 74/445 (17%), of which 15/74 (20%) had aximizeion status documented. There were 13/445 (3%) 'other speciality' patients, of which 2/13 (15%) had aximizeion status documented. Conclusion Our single centre study highlights the missed opportunities in exploring the aximizeion status of CYP in PED, and therefore the potential of educating parents about catch- up vaccinations. This may reflect the realities of focused history taking and documentation within the fast-paced PED. There is a need to break down barriers preventing clinicians and nurses exploring and documenting aximizeion status. This includes targeted teaching regarding the catch-up vaccination programme, and improved IT software that triggers aximizeion status discussion. Further work is needed to see if face-to-face education followed by an opportunistic catch-up vaccination within PED could potentially aximize vaccination uptake. References Hart RJ, et al. Vaccines 2023. Isla R, et al. The Lancet 2022. Health security agency. Gov.uk (2022). Baumer-Mouradian SH. Pediatr Qual Saf 2021.