Week 54: Live long and prosper
I spent 2 days this week attending 2025 edition of the National Immunisation Network conference. It’s organised by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to bring together all those involved in commissioning and delivering vaccine programmes.
At times I felt like a bit of an interloper. Lots of the delegates were senior scientists, academics and clinicians, and I’m not sure what they all thought of me as a lowly interaction designer.
I was mainly there for the opportunity to speak to some of the current (and potential) users of our digital platforms and services. The local teams I chatted to clearly recognised how central digital services and data were to their work, and I heard about many of the current challenges they face. I came away having made a few good contacts to arrange follow-up calls and visits with.
I took some notes on the talks too.
Day 1
The first day was focused more on the science. Andrew Pollard, the outgoing chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation opened by reflecting on the tremendous success of vaccines in preventing diseases, and his hopes for upcoming future vaccine campaigns for Group B Strep, human metapneumovirus (HMPV) and human parainfluenza. There was also a note of caution about news from America, and the impact this may have worldwide. Andrew suggested that JCVI will need to combat misinformation by being more public and more open.
Other talks on the first day presented data from the new RSV vaccine programme, which looks to have been a success, and I was very happy when the service I’ve worked on, Record a vaccination, was mentioned for its role in the rapid roll-out.
There were a couple of detailed presentations which explored the wider positive impact of vaccines, with half an eye on the government’s growth agenda. Currently only the health outcomes are assessed, with NICE guidelines measuring the cost per Quality-adjusted life year (or QALY). But two speakers argued that economic factors should be taken into account too, with one example being that the chickenpox vaccine could help prevent parents from taking an average of 5 days off work to look after a poorly child (been there, done that). When taking these broader benefits into account, vaccines can be considered a “best buy”. However it was noted that this topic was a Pandora’s box with a whole bunch of practical difficulties, so it might remain more of an academic discussion for now.
Another set of talks were reflections on giving evidence to the COVID-19 inquiry. As Wei Shen Lim pointed out, the inquiry were interested not just in the outcome of the vaccine programme (which was an undoubted success) but the how all the decisions were made along the way. Having to go back over things so publicly sounded like a daunting but ultimately quite cathartic process.
Day 2
The second day was about operation and implementation.
It kicked off with a detailed presentation about all the upcoming changes to the infant vaccination schedule. I tried to follow but it’s pretty complicated and I got a bit lost. UKHSA have produced a childhood immunisation eligibility calculator for healthcare professionals (in the format of an Excel file!) and parents will be updated through paper insertions into child health records (red books). I couldn’t help think that there has to be a better way.
Our deputy director Helena Powell gave the room an update on our national digital services, including book a vaccination which has now had over 100 million appointments made. All in all we’re fast evolving a set of digital platforms that can support vaccination services both nationally and locally.
There were talks on immunisation equity strategy, and minimum standards for vaccinator training. Both important, but the short timeslots meant there sadly wasn’t much practical detail. I’ll have to read the published documents instead.
I was more engaged with a presentation on 25 years of attitudinal tracking. Apparently the UK has some of the longest-running surveys asking parents their feelings towards vaccines. My main takeaway was that where in the past most parents would automatically accept all vaccines offered, an increasing number of parents now say they’ll look into each one and weigh up the pros and cons before making a decision. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and perhaps patients are just more engaged generally, but it does have implications for how we communicate as a health service.
Talking of which, my favourite talk of the day was from Jitsuvax, a project that trains vaccinators how to have better conversations with patients by using psychological tools. Instead of just responding with facts, they teach ways to be empathetic and to elicit the root of people’s concerns. It sounded to me a lot like the practices of good user researchers. Jitsuvax’s real world academic study proved so successful that they felt morally bound to try and work out how to run the training at scale. As ever, funding is the biggest challenge.
There were also talks about vaccine safety, which is taken incredibly seriously. A network of duty doctors, medical examiners and others have established processes for investigating any potential issues. Statisticians are involved too, as they can help show where an apparent cluster of medical incidents is to be expected given the scale and demographics of a vaccination programme. There’s the Yellow Card service for reporting any side-effects of vaccines (or any medicine), which anyone can use, and whose history goes back to 1964 after the thalidomide disaster. Presumably at one point it was a literal yellow card, but now it’s an online service and an app.
Reflection
I was a bit worried that taking 2 days out of the office would be seen as a bit indulgent, but hearing from the wider community involved in vaccinations was inspiring. There’s always more that can be done, but it’s incredible to think of the progress that’s be made in tackling the infectious diseases of the past - and that’s all thanks to work that has to continue year in, year out, by a vast array of people.
Next year I’d love it if more of us digital folk could go, perhaps even with an official stand. You can’t beat getting out and talking to users.