Influenza Vaccinations 2022-23: Cohort Identification Methodology

NHS England Vaccination Deployment Programme’s (VDP) Tech and Data Workstream commissioned the NHS England Vaccination Programme to flow patient identifiable data to the National Immunisation Management Service (NIMS). This will be used for influenza vaccine monitoring and call and recall within the 2022 to 2023 flu season that runs from 1 September 2022 to 31 March 2023.

NHS England Vaccination programme commissioned NHS England’s Cohorting as a Service (CaaS) to provide patient identifiable cohorts to the NHS England Vaccination Programme to facilitate the identification of citizens who are eligible for flu vaccinations for the season's autumn and winter 2022 to 2023. This includes the defined clinical at-risk group criteria detailed in Chapter 19 of the Green Book ​​​​​​to enable the NHS England Vaccination Programme to flow that data to NIMS.

A patient cohort has been created and made available in Data Processing Services (DPS) within NHS England where the VDP within NHSD will transfer it to the National Immunisation Management System (NIMS). The data will be available to the NHS VDP to flow to the NIMS and Foundry for use in National Call/Recall and monitoring for the 2022 to 2023 flu vaccination season.

The clinical at-risk groups within the Green Book are: 

• Chronic respiratory disease 
• Chronic heart disease and vascular disease
• Chronic kidney disease 
• Chronic liver disease 
• Chronic neurological disease 
• Diabetes and adrenal insufficiency
• Immunosuppression 
• Morbid obesity (class III obesity) 
• Asplenia or dysfunction of the spleen
• Pregnant women

This document outlines NHS England’s Cohorting as a Service's approach to deliver this cohort using established methodologies. It also highlights any divergence from the clinical criteria held within Chapter 19 of the Green Book and associated assumptions.