Pneumococcal vaccination: A practice based audit

Objective: To audit the use of pneumococccal vaccine in patients at increased risk of pneumococcal infection, in a general practice setting. Design: Computer and manual search of patient records - before and one year after intervention. Setting and subjects: All patients registered at a four partner, inner-city, training practice in Wembley. Intervention: Practice based pneumococcal vaccination campaign, with implementation of practice protocol, and clinical guidelines issued to all members of the primary health care team. Outcome Measures: Proportion of patients at risk of pneumococcal infection that had been vaccinated on 16th May 1998, compared with proportion vaccinated on 1st April 1997. Results: Significant increase in the proportion of patients that had been vaccinated from 2 (0%) before the intervention to 60 (7.6%) one year later (p < 0.001, 95% CI 5.4 - 9.2%). Conclusions: A practice based campaign can deliver significant improvements in pneumococcal vaccination uptake in patients considered to be at risk of pneumococcal disease.