HCT launches a new Hertfordshire and East Anglia Community and School Age Immunisation Service for the benefit of over half a million children and young people
The start of the new academic year marks the 1st September launch of HCT’s new Hertfordshire and East Anglia School Age and Community Immunisation Service which will protect more than 550,000 children and young people across Hertfordshire, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk each year.
Elliot Howard-Jones, Chief Executive of HCT said: ‘HCT is a caring, agile and innovative organisation which supports people at every stage of their lives - from birth to end-of-life care. Our proven expertise in school age and community immunisation services has enabled us to expand our services into East Anglia and I am delighted to welcome 77 new staff members to our Trust. Thank you to everyone who has worked incredibly hard since the beginning of the year to bring together this fantastic new team.”
Kay Gilmour, Assistant Director of Children’s Universal Services said: “The new Hertfordshire and East Anglia School Age and Community Immunisation Service will help protect our youngest, and some of the most vulnerable, members of society from many of our most devastating childhood diseases.
"Everyone in this new team will play a crucial and highly valued part in HCT’s mission to deliver the best possible services to the communities we serve. I am very much looking forward to being part of this new service and to see the positive difference we can make to children’s health together.”
The service has been commissioned by NHS England for a maximum of four years. It brings together a number of immunisation programmes for school age children and young people as defined under the Public Health Functions Agreement: Seasonal Influenza for Children (Flu) (all children from Reception to Year 11 inclusive), Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) (age range 12 to 13, Year 8 girls and boys), Td-IPV Teenage (school leaver booster) (age range 13 to 14, Year 9), and Meningitis ACWY (age range 13 to 14, Year 9). Also included is a HepB programme for at risk babies, a BCG programme for at risk babies and a HepB programme for young people educated in SEND schools.
We will work in partnership with Vaccination UK who will deliver our influenza programme between October and January each year. This year we will protect all children from Reception through to Year 11 making it the largest in-school flu vaccination programme to date.
We will deliver vaccinations to children aged from 5-19 years of age working with schools across Hertfordshire and East Anglia, including state, independent, special schools and pupil referral units, as well as community clinics for young people who are educated at home and walk-in catch up clinics to ensure anyone who misses their scheduled session is still protected. Our expert team will also provide a rapid response to any cases of disease outbreaks in the community such as measles or mumps.
HCT is currently rated as 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission. This means the services we provide are performing well and meeting the expectations of the inspectors who monitor, inspect and rate healthcare services across the UK. Our ambition is that people we serve receive outstanding care from us, that we enable healthier communities, and in doing so, we become recognised as an Outstanding Trust. The roll out of the new Hertfordshire and East Anglia School Age and Community Immunisation Service will play a vital role in helping us achieve this aim.
More information about the service and contact details for each local team can be found here.
