Sheffield schools getting NHS advice on Strep A to pass on to worried parents and carers

Sheffield Health Services have given advice to schools to share with parents and carers about Strep A as cases of infections that can lead to the potentially deadly invasive Strep A rise.

Ruth Granger, public health adviser, told Sheffield City Council’s Health and Welfare Committee: “We are seeing cases sooner than we might expect. There is a high rate of scarlet fever cases across the country, including Yorkshire and the Humber, and this has led to a higher number of cases of invasive Strep A.

“What we’ve been trying to do is provide information and communicate with the public about when they should seek help, which should be of concern. We have sent information to schools to share.”

She said schools shared information with parents and carers.

Ruth Granger, Public Health Adviser, addresses Sheffield City Council’s Health and Wellbeing Committee

Ms Granger continued: “The thing is that some years we have higher years and some years we have lower years. We also know that we have a situation among parents and the public in general where they also have a high sensitivity to infection and disease because they remembered how it was in Covid and there is a high level of fear are.”

She added: There are ongoing concerns about the uptake of childhood vaccination rates, which appear to be very important in preventing preventable diseases. Rates have risen since we came out of Covid but we are concerned that we have certain parts of the city and groups where intake is not as high as we would like to protect our populations.”

Low levels “shocking”

Ms Granger showed the board members a map linking vaccination levels and deprived urban areas. She said the chairman of the board has written to NHS England with concerns about the way vaccination services are being delivered in those communities.

GP Dr. Leigh Sorsbie of the NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, left, speaks at a meeting of Sheffield City Council’s Health and Welfare Council

She said the children’s hospital is piloting staff to check that children visiting outpatients are up to date with vaccinations.

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dr David Black, of the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It goes without saying that childhood vaccination is the single most important health action to be taken. It is worrying to see some practices delivering less than 90 percent.”

He asked how effectively NHS England was dealing with this and said it was important that GP practices ensure no visiting child leaves without vaccination unless there are objections.

A map shown to Sheffield City Council’s Health and Welfare Committee, highlighting the links between the level of child immunization and social disadvantage

Ms. Granger responded that many practices work very hard and don’t get the results they need. She said work needed to be done across all NHS sectors to increase numbers, not just primary care.

“You are indeed punished”

GP Dr. Leigh Sorsbie, of the NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, said the level at some practices is 50 per cent which is “shocking”. She said there have been significant changes in the way procedures to vaccinate children are paid for.

“If you work in an area of severe deprivation, in communities that are at highest risk of these diseases that we are trying to immunize against, you are actually penalized for not being able to reach those communities in the same way. ”

She said practices in the north of the city are losing £11-13,000 a year in bonuses for meeting vaccination targets, which they could use for work.