Reduced services due to Covid-19
Together with the rest of the NHS, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust is preparing for the unprecedented demands of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. During this time, your care may change a little, for example it may be delivered in a different way, or may have to be postponed for a while. We will try to explain why we have to take these steps below.
As a result of the outbreak, we are prioritising the care we normally provide, and some services will be restricted or closed. We will be writing to patients who are affected. If you were expecting to attend one of our clinics in the next few days and have not received a letter, please phone the number provided on your original appointment letter to confirm whether you should still attend.
To see whether one of our services is affected please click here: https://www.leicspart.nhs.uk/service-update/
Service description
The Community Immunisation Service (CIS) supports and delivers immunisation programmes across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR). The service provides immunisations in schools for seasonal flu, HPV, teenage booster and the meningitis ACWY. The service also schedules and supports GPs by providing routine childhood immunisations for children and young people under 17 years old and through home visiting and it also offers vaccinations to home educated children and young people. The service may also be called upon to respond in the event of outbreaks in the community.
The service is provided and supported by a team of skilled and experienced staff. Our immunisation nurses have experience in all aspects of immunisation and vaccination. Consent for vaccination is sought and the team will assess individual children and young people and where highlighted, will offer advice and support.
The service offers the following immunisation programmes in schools:
- Seasonal flu vaccination to protect healthy children against flu (in school years Reception – year 7)
- Seasonal flu vaccination to protect children and staff in special schools and nurseries against flu
- Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to protect boys and girls against various forms of cancer (in school years 8 where two vaccinations are offered six months apart)
- Teenage booster and meningitis vaccinations to protect young people against tetanus, diphtheria and polio and meningitis (in school year 9)
Our service is delivered from:
- All schools in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
- Home visits only for children with an assessed health need or who are home educated
The service engages with more than 400 schools, academies and educational settings in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to ensure the offer is made to all eligible children on roll. The service will revisit schools and will offer additional opportunities throughout the academic year for secondary school aged vaccinations.
To access our service you can:
- Check when the team is due to visit your child’s school:
- Complete and return the vaccination consent form you receive to your child’s school
- Contact the service on 0300 3000 007
- Contact your school nurse or practice nurse for a referral
Information about consent in different languages (Urdu, Punjabi, Polish, Somali and Arabic) is available here.
Electronic consent
To support the NHS transformation to a paperless service by 2020, we are changing the way that parents and carers provide written consent for their children to receive their routine vaccinations in school.
Previously paper consent forms were issued which schools sent home with pupils for their parents/carers to sign, and the completed forms were then returned to school for the service to collect. However, we have now introduced a new e-consent form which can be completed securely on-line. This will streamline the way the vaccinations given to children and young people are processed and recorded.
You can complete the online form for your child by visiting: https://www.leicsandrutlandimms.co.uk/
You will require a code for your child’s school. The code can be looked up here.
Top tip: when completing the online form, make sure you haven’t included extra spaces or punctuation around the school code, and that when you confirm your email address it matches the one originally submitted.
Further Information
Click here to find out more about the NHS vaccination schedule.
We have also developed health promotion websites for children.
The websites are a wonderful resource on health-related subjects and include exciting activities, articles and interactive content. This includes a short animated film which explains what flu is and how the nasal flu vaccine works. You can watch this film with your child by clicking here.
Older children can find out more about these vaccinations and other health issues by clicking here.
Contact Us
By telephone on 0300 3000 007
By email on communityimms@leicspart.nhs.uk
By post:
Referral criteria
The service offers the following immunisation programmes in schools:
- Seasonal flu vaccination to protect healthy children against flu (in school years Reception – year 7)
- Seasonal flu vaccination to protect children and staff in special schools and nurseries against flu
- Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to protect girls against cervical cancer (in school years 8 where two vaccinations are offered six months apart)
- Teenage booster and meningitis vaccinations to protect young people against tetanus, diphtheria and polio and meningitis (in school year 9)