Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

High rate of inappropriate referrals to specialised day case unit for immunisation

High rate of inappropriate referrals to specialised day case unit for immunisation Purpose – Seeks to assess whether referrals for immunisation as day cases are appropriate and to identify any adverse events following hospital‐based immunisation. Design/methodology/approach – Computerised consent forms and the ward registers were used to generate a list of children immunised in the day case ward of Basildon University Hospital between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2003. Findings – There were 57 referrals for immunisation under medical supervision in the day case ward during the 12‐month period. General practitioners referred 30 cases (53 per cent) followed by eight (14 per cent) referrals each from the Immunisation Coordinator Clinic and health visitors. The commonest reason for referral was previous reaction to vaccine (21 cases, 37 per cent), followed by history of egg allergy (11 cases, 23 per cent). The types of vaccines that were most frequently administered were the MMR first dose (18 cases, 32 per cent) and the second dose of DPT/OPV/HIB/Men C (13 cases, 23 per cent). Practical implications – A total of 24 (42 per cent) of the referrals were judged to be inappropriate as per the UK Department of Health's guidelines. No adverse events were noticed during hospital‐based immunisation. Definite guidelines exist in the UK for immunisation. However, a large proportion of children who deserved immunisation in the community were referred to the hospital day case unit. Originality/value – This paper identifies the inappropriateness of hospital‐based immunisation and emphasises the need to create increased awareness regarding the true contraindications to immunisation among healthcare professionals by further education and training. Further, it is expected to stimulate many paediatric departments to look at their own practice and find ways to improve service efficiency and effective use of resources. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Clinical Governance An International Journal Emerald Publishing

High rate of inappropriate referrals to specialised day case unit for immunisation

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/high-rate-of-inappropriate-referrals-to-specialised-day-case-unit-for-OU4pFZ8iXk

References (17)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1477-7274
DOI
10.1108/14777270610660484
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – Seeks to assess whether referrals for immunisation as day cases are appropriate and to identify any adverse events following hospital‐based immunisation. Design/methodology/approach – Computerised consent forms and the ward registers were used to generate a list of children immunised in the day case ward of Basildon University Hospital between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2003. Findings – There were 57 referrals for immunisation under medical supervision in the day case ward during the 12‐month period. General practitioners referred 30 cases (53 per cent) followed by eight (14 per cent) referrals each from the Immunisation Coordinator Clinic and health visitors. The commonest reason for referral was previous reaction to vaccine (21 cases, 37 per cent), followed by history of egg allergy (11 cases, 23 per cent). The types of vaccines that were most frequently administered were the MMR first dose (18 cases, 32 per cent) and the second dose of DPT/OPV/HIB/Men C (13 cases, 23 per cent). Practical implications – A total of 24 (42 per cent) of the referrals were judged to be inappropriate as per the UK Department of Health's guidelines. No adverse events were noticed during hospital‐based immunisation. Definite guidelines exist in the UK for immunisation. However, a large proportion of children who deserved immunisation in the community were referred to the hospital day case unit. Originality/value – This paper identifies the inappropriateness of hospital‐based immunisation and emphasises the need to create increased awareness regarding the true contraindications to immunisation among healthcare professionals by further education and training. Further, it is expected to stimulate many paediatric departments to look at their own practice and find ways to improve service efficiency and effective use of resources.

Journal

Clinical Governance An International JournalEmerald Publishing

Published: Apr 1, 2006

Keywords: Day care; Immunization; Referral; United Kingdom

There are no references for this article.