How technology can help GP practices manage their COVID-19 and flu vaccination campaigns

With any vaccination campaign, there are key data administration tasks that GP practices will need to complete. In recent years some of this has been made more straightforward by the development of new IT solutions.

One of these is HelixHub, which has been developed by Telstra Health UK, and it is helping to change the way GP practices and also local pharmacies navigate the vital issue of data administration alongside handling vaccinating their patients.

After receiving approval from NHS England to be used across the health service’s COVID-19 and flu vaccination programme last year, the service has been rapidly rolled out across over 1,500 users to date across the UK.

What is HelixHub?

HelixHub is a vaccination management and tracking system designed to streamline the vaccination process and improve patient outcomes. The software has an intuitive user and enables healthcare providers to efficiently manage vaccine supplies, track patient vaccination status, and monitor adverse reactions.

Telstra Health UK is a leader in healthcare data and insight with metrics that have been adopted as global standards in healthcare. Telstra Health UK is part of Telstra Health, which provides digital solutions and services to healthcare providers and governments across the care continuum in Australia and internationally.

HelixHub has been developed in line with the UK government's £484minvestment program to upgrade clinical health record technology and is available as part of NHS funding.

‘HelixHub is a simple, secure, cloud-based solution that enables management of COVID-19 and flu vaccinations from anywhere, which allows providers to be fully mobile and go to their patients’ locations whether that be a care home or even a patient’s home,’ explains Jack Gibson, head of product for Telstra Health UK.

‘It can be accessed through a web browser on a mobile, tablet or laptop, with no software installation necessary. The system is fully mobile which means it can be used for vaccinations with only a Wi-Fi connection or phone hotspot, connecting seamlessly to core NHS Spine services like Personal Demographics Service (PDS), as well as the Immunisation History api.

‘The software can be up and running in days with minimal training necessary and has full integration into the patient clinical system including submissions to Business Services Authority for the vaccination events.’

Using HelixHub

Following a successful pilot program, HelixHub is approved for full rollout across the NHS. This means that GP practices across the country will now have funded access to this vaccination management system, allowing them to provide faster, more efficient care to patients.

Practices, PCNs or ICBs just need to let their regional or system COVID vaccination operation centre (RVOC or SVOC) that they would like to switch to the HelixHub vaccination application. Once the centre lets Telstra Health UK, they will work with the relevant organisation to get people onboarded.

Central to HelixHub's functionality is its support for point-of-care systems administering COVID-19 and flu vaccines through a browser-based interface, ensuring compatibility with laptops and enabling seamless workflows. This encompasses clinical screening, consent capturing, and detailed vaccine record management, including important and sensitive information on patients' vaccination history.

The platform makes data entry simple, through a five-step process that takes no more than 60 seconds to record COVID-19 or flu vaccinations. There are no lengthy registration processes and

HelixHub allows users to operate without constraints imposed by specific networks, while ensuring data security through multi-factor authentication and cloud-based storage.

‘We believe HelixHub can be invaluable to GP practices and pharmacies as they work to vaccinate as many people as possible,’ says Jack Gibson. ‘We look forward to building our partnership with NHS England to support public health efforts and improve patient outcomes.’

• If you’d like to upgrade your vaccination solution as part of your preparations for a spring booster campaign, contact Telstra Health UK for a demonstration.

Telstra Health
At Telstra Health, we work to improve lives through digitally-enabled care for our community. Through innovative digital products, solutions and platforms, we help clinicians and care providers in all settings deliver care in new ways and enable ideal health