TY - JOUR T1 - Vaccinations not covered under Section 7a: who pays? JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 92 LP - 93 DO - 10.3399/bjgp18X694781 VL - 68 IS - 667 AU - Cornelia Junghans AU - Kerry Lonergan AU - Catherine Heffernan AU - Kenny Gibson Y1 - 2018/02/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/68/667/92.abstract N2 - The NHS has undergone profound changes in the way it commissions services with the introduction of the Health and Social Care Act in 2012, resulting in NHS England (NHSE) area teams taking on responsibility for commissioning immunisation programmes in collaboration with the Department of Health (DH) and Public Health England (PHE).1 NHSE is now responsible for the routine commissioning of national screening and immunisation programmes under the terms of the Section 7a agreement (S7a).Since April 2013, national population-based screening and immunisation programmes are provided under the terms of S7a. This is negotiated with the Secretary of State for Health (who allocates the funds) and NHSE (who commission the services) under leadership from PHE. PHE also gives relevant expert guidance and acquires national vaccine stock. NHSE currently commissions 17 national immunisation programmes in accordance with nationally agreed service specifications.2The majority of vaccination services are provided within general practice, although targeted neonatal Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), maternal vaccinations, and the first dose of targeted neonatal hepatitis B can also be provided by maternity units. School-age vaccinations and targeted neonatal BCG in the community are largely provided by community-based or school vaccination teams. Within London, community pharmacies have been commissioned to provide seasonal flu and adult pneumococcal (PPV23) vaccines to the London population.There are situations, however, where vaccinations are indicated according to the Green Book3 — a government publication that provides the latest evidence-based guidance on immunisation — or other clinical guidance such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). These are expected to be provided within clinical care but do not fall under S7a programme delivery.Before 2013, all vaccinations were paid by primary care trusts (PCTs), but now it is unclear who pays for the vaccine and who pays for the administration. There … ER -