The BeWise Immunise booking system, which was developed by staff at NCIC last year, has made booking vaccinations for pregnant women easier than ever.

The booking system was developed last year for maternity vaccines, and the convenience of the new system contributed to a 20% higher maternity vaccination rate in North Cumbria last year than average.

The booking system was developed originally for maternity services by staff from NCIC and SMART Insight Ltd. It has been rolled out so that women across the region (North Cumbria, Northumbria, and North East) can now book their vaccination appointments online quickly and easily.

This year the BeWise Immunise booking system has been further developed so that it can be used by staff to book their flu vaccinations ahead of winter. Flu vaccination is one of the best tools we have to protect the health of our patients and staff, ease winter pressures, and reduce the risk of disruption to our services.

The aim is that ultimately the booking system will be used for all vaccination appointments within NCIC services over the next few months. The booking system has been further adopted and rolled out by other trusts across the region already, and this will hopefully extend countrywide.

Gayle Howarth, Clinical Lead and Specialist Nurse for Immunisation for NCIC, said:

"I am delighted that the BeWise Immunise booking system has been so successful for our maternity services, and I hope that staff find booking their flu vaccines much easier this year using the new system.

"The booking system for maternity services means that women can book their vaccines from the comfort of their own home at a time that works for them. We have found that most women used the website between 8pm - 11pm, highlighting the advantage of an online system that doesn't rely on office hours. Women can also choose which clinics they want to go to - for instance someone might live in Penrith but work in Carlisle, and so can choose a clinic near work for convenience.

"Patients can use the app to book, amend, cancel their appointments and receive reminders - this saves our staff admin time, which can be used for important clinical work instead."

Richard Lloyd, Managing Director, SMART Insight Ltd, said:

"The NCIC team have embraced the new Bewise Immunise vaccination booking system and, through their proactive approach, has worked with the developer, SMART Insight Ltd,  to tailor the system to their exact requirements. By building the system around the needs of the users, rather than making the users fit an existing system, the technology makes the experience more rewarding and less frustrating for all the stakeholders"

Alex Holloway, SVOC COVID-19 Programme Director, North East and North Cumbria ICB said:

“Gayle's professionalism to improve patient experience and efficient resourcing of staff, has helped realise the Trust's opportunity to expand the delivery model into neighbourhood health; through the Family Hubs. As part of that service, she partnered with SMART Insight Ltd to co-design a booking and information service for pregnant women. Using the new system, she has made the service far more efficient for staff to interact with patients and reduce administrative time to deliver COVID, Flu, RSV and Pertussis vaccinations. This is now being expanded to West Cumberland, Penrith Maternity service and Whitehaven Hospital.

“In advance of this autumn winter, and to support the staff occupational health vaccination programme, she has widened the scope of the digital booking system. Over the coming months, this service will be further integrated with renal, sexual health, School Aged Immunisation Service and community outbreak.”

Pregnant women can book their flu, whooping cough, RSV and post MMR vaccinations on the website here: https://bewiseimmunise.co.uk/maternity.php

NCIC staff can book their flu vaccinations here: https://bewiseimmunise.co.uk/ncic.php