New Zealand Gazette – 2001 – No. 172

Page 4207

✨ Health Services Guidelines



19 DECEMBER NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE 4207

c) ensuring children do not “fall through the gaps” by developing effective links between services and assisting individual children to access vaccination services.

d) maintaining high quality immunisation services;

e) giving up to date, accurate information and advice to parents/caregivers and the public about vaccines and immunisation; and

f) ensuring vaccine integrity by effectively maintaining and monitoring the “cold chain”.

"1.2 Principles

Continuity of responsibility for immunisation

The Ministry of Health regards immunisation as an entitlement for all children. Consequently, both parents and health service providers have responsibilities to ensure that children are immunised (subject to parental consent).

For most children, their usual general practice provides immunisation services and is able to ensure that the child’s immunisation schedule is completed. However, some children do not have a regular provider of primary medical care, or have difficulty accessing services (for example due to physical or financial barriers). All children should have an identified provider who is responsible for ensuring that all scheduled vaccines are given.

Responsibilities of primary care service providers for the early childhood immunisation schedule begin when the child:

  • is transferred from the Lead Maternity Carer after birth; or
  • is referred from a Well Child Service provider at approximately 6 weeks for immunisation services; or
  • joins the practice.

Responsibilities end when the child:

  • completes the immunisation episode scheduled at age 4 years; or
  • is transferred to another immunisation service provider; or
  • advice is received by the practice that the child has left the practice; or
  • is lost to follow up (after reasonable and repeated efforts to contact the caregiver have failed, and appropriate referral has been undertaken as detailed below).

Where the immunisation episode scheduled at age 11 is not given through a school programme, each general practice is also responsible for ensuring that this episode is offered. In areas where there is a school immunisation programme, parents still have the choice to have the 11-year episode given by their general practice. The District Health Boards will assist (where privacy issues are satisfied) by supplying regular lists of children who have been vaccinated at school to all general practitioners.

When a child is late for immunisation, despite recalls, the primary care provider shall refer the child to an appropriate Well Child Service provider or immunisation co-ordinator or community immunisation service (depending on local arrangements, and privacy and consent issues) to either facilitate or undertake the child’s immunisation, and report back.

Definitions for immunisation on time, overdue, non-responder and declined are set out in the national standardised terminology for immunisation audit.



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Online Sources for this page:

VUW Te Waharoa — PDF NZ Gazette 2001, No 172


Gazette.govt.nz — PDF NZ Gazette 2001, No 172




✨ LLM interpretation of page content

🏥 Amendment to Patient Benefits and Subsidies for General Practitioners (continued from previous page)

🏥 Health & Social Welfare
Patient Benefits, Subsidies, General Practitioners, Service Provision, Facilities, Immunisation Services, Childhood Immunisation, Vaccination, Health Standards