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[seankennedy]

I note that we are still using User codes rather than official Read Codes for the childhood vaccinations which came out last year. (I was going to say new childhood vaccinations, but they are hardly new at this stage.) I presume this is because oficial Read Codes have not yet been released. Could someone from GPASS confirm this please?
Are there official Read Codes for the new HPV vaccine which is now available and may become part of the routine vaccination protocol for adolescents as early as later this year? If no official codes are available, could GPASS issue semi-official User codes sooner rather than later. They were a bit late with these codes for the childhood vaccines and it would be a shame to repeat this mistake when it is so predictable that the codes will be required.

[seankennedy]

And answer came there none.

I would apreciate an answer from GPASS on this.

Sean Kennedy

[seankennedy]

Cross Post from GPASS Web site forum

kharden

Group: Members
Posts: 148
Joined: July 2003
  Posted: Mar. 06 2007,13:29    

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Apologies for delay in responding Sean. Information received is "The response from Connecting for Health was 'Thank you for your request for additional codes to support the new DOH immunisation programme. Codes have been added in support of this programme and were released on the 1st October 2006. Details of the new codes can be found at http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/termino....;
For Read2 these are-
657L.|00|1st pneumococcal conjug vaccin|First pneumococcal conjugated vaccination|
657M.|00|2nd pneumococcal conjug vaccin|Second pneumococcal conjugated vaccination|
657N.|00|3rd pneumococcal conjug vaccin|Third pneumococcal conjugated vaccination|
65b..|00|Hib/meningitis C vaccination|Haemophilus influenzae type B and meningitis C vaccination|

This was following the the unsuccessful request for the following terms:  DTaP/IPV/Hib + pneumococcal conjugate, DTaP/IPV/Hib + MenC,DTaP/IPV/Hib + MenC + pneumococcal conjugate,   MMR + pneumococcal conjugate, DTaP/IPV vaccine and MMR."

Re HPV I agree with your sensible suggestion.
Kenneth.  

[seankennedy]

Cross posted from GPASS web forum
When the childhood vaccination schedule was changed and new vaccines introduced a while back, there were at the time no correct Read codes for many of the routine vaccines. GPASS produced standardised User codes (ZOCV0 etc) to allow us to record vaccines given and produced screening protocols for call/recall. This was meant to be an interim measure until proper Read codes were available.
New Read codes are available, at least for the primary vaccinations - they are 65a0; 65a1; 65a2. The idea of recording 1st MMR as first (ZC051) rather than MMR (65M1) also seems to have been rejected nationally.
To be correct, we should now be recording vaccinations using the correct (nationally standardised) Read codes rather than User codes which are not recognised by other (non-GPASS) systems. I still hope that GPASS has a long lively future, but, just in case, it makes sense now to be recording data in a format that will be easilly understood by another system if we have to undergo a data migration exercise.
Could GPASS at this stage issue ammended screening protocols using the new codes, issue a SQL script converting previously recorded User codes to Read codes and issue advice to practices that they ought in future to use the standard Read codes?

Thank you
Sean Kennedy