Publish date: 3 December 2025
Partnership approach to ensure community access to childhood vaccinations
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s school-aged immunisation service (SAIS) provides vaccinations to children and young people across Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle and Gateshead.
The award-winning team has been recognised for its approach of co-designing the programmes they deliver with the communities they work in, in a bid to meet the needs of the families they look after and reduce health inequalities in the process.
Its latest collaboration involves teaming up with Northumberland County Council to work with its Family Hubs, which support parents, carers, children and young people as they grow. There is a network of 11 hubs across the county plus outreach venues, split over the north, central, south-east and west localities.
The link came about as the immunisation service started offering vaccinations for 2 and 3-year-olds during the current flu campaign, in addition to its work in primary and secondary schools across the North East.
But while the team has held flu clinics at some of the hubs this autumn, it is about much more than having a community venue to hold clinics. It’s about building health promotion and education on vaccines into the wide offer the family hubs provide for families.
Caroline Smith, joint clinical lead for Northumbria Healthcare’s SAIS, said: “It’s about how we make vaccinations and their benefits part of everyday life and part of a holistic approach to early years.
“This project is in its infancy, but we really believe it can make a big impact and we want to normalise it as part of everyday life for families.”
Councillor Eve Chicken, portfolio holder for public health at Northumberland County Council, said: “We know that vaccination is the best form of protection and we want families to be as healthy as possible, so it is important we provide all the information, advice and guidance we can to help them to make informed choices.
"Our Family Hubs play a key role by providing support to parents, carers, children and young people as they grow, ensuring our young people to have the best start in life."
Northumbria Healthcare’s SAIS has always been clear that it is a service for children and young people, which will work not just in schools but out in the community.
Stephanie Gibbs, joint clinical lead for the team, said: “The NHS is focusing on shifts from treatment to prevention and from hospital to community, both of which are absolutely core business for us.
“This partnership with the family hubs is about making immunisations a universal message, not just a clinical one. It’s about trusted voices, whether that’s our nurses working in schools or people working day in day out with families in the community.”
Last month, the NHS warned that flu has hit early this year, with cases triple the same time last year.
The flu nasal spray vaccine is free for children aged 2 up to Year 11 and from 6 months with certain health conditions. The team also vaccinates children up to Year 13 in SEND schools.
Flu can be a horrible illness in young children. The vaccine reduces your child’s chance of needing hospital care for flu by around two thirds. It also helps prevent them spreading it to family and friends. Visit www.
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