Vaccination@Concord aims to embed vaccinations in routine clinical care.
 

A program designed to promote immunisation as a key component of holistic patient care at Concord Hospital has already administered close to 200 vaccines since it began four months ago.

Vaccination@Concord not only vaccinates patients at the hospital but also supports clinical teams to incorporate immunisation into their routine practice.

The project’s main objective is to improve immunisation coverage, particularly for patients experiencing barriers to accessing primary care. This will help reduce hospitalisations for vaccine-preventable diseases and acute exacerbations of chronic diseases.

Immunisation Clinical Nurse Consultant Janet Watson said she hoped the program would help staff and patients see vaccinations as a normal part of the healthcare journey at the hospital.

“We want to embed immunisation into normal practice,” she said.

“We want staff to think about assessing and looking patients’ vaccination history and whether or not we can offer them vaccination that will help to keep them on that track to wellness, even if it's not relevant to what they have presented with.”

Janet, who works with Staff Specialist Public Health Physician Dr Therese Marfori on the project, said Vaccination@Concord had already vaccinated more than 100 renal patients alone. She said she had held presentations on the program for senior nursing staff and talked with other staff to spread the message.

Both patients and staff had been receptive to the program, Janet said, and it offered clear benefits to both groups.

“Immunisation makes staff’s job easier because if their patients aren't getting sick, then [staff are] not getting sick either,” she said.

“Patients have realised the benefit that, ‘Hey, I'm here anyway, I may as well have this done.’ It’s not taking time out of their day.

“If you come in three times a week to have dialysis, the last thing you want to have to do when you're not here is go to a doctor.”

Vaccination@Concord began with a focus on particularly vulnerable patient groups in aged care and renal care and has since expanded into aged rehabilitation care, HIV and immunology. 

Janet said she was confident that services could incorporate vaccinations into their work.

“Staff are already busy and we know that,” she said.

“Where I come in is showing them that it doesn't have to be complicated ... It's a very quick process and it has all those added benefits.”