Members of the practice team are encouraged to have immunisations as mandated in the local state or territory in order to:
- protect the team from serious illness due to vaccine-preventable infectious diseases
- prevent them transmitting such infections to patients.
The practice also needs to communicate, recommend and offer members of the practice team any additional recommended immunisations that are appropriate to their duties.
The specific immunisations for practice members will depend on the risk of infection, which is based on the practice’s location and patient population and the duties of each member. The practice could conduct a risk assessment to identify the immunisations each practice team member needs to have based on their role. For more information, please see RACGP’s Infection prevention and control guidelines, the Australian immunisation handbook and CG9 – Infection prevention and control, including reprocessing.
The practice could:
- offer the practice team testing of their natural immunity to vaccine-preventable disease or immunisation status
- provide members of the practice team the option to either receive required vaccinations at the practice or from their own GP or immunisation service
- encourage members of the practice team to receive the recommended or mandated immunisations as soon as practicable, ideally before starting or within the first few weeks of working at the practice, and in line with the local state or territory health department guidance.
If a member of the practice team cannot receive vaccines, this needs to be documented so that they can be allocated appropriate alternative duties if there is an outbreak of an infectious disease.
If a practice team member chooses not to have recommended or mandated immunisations, the practice needs to review relevant state/territory legislation or obtain legal advice to ensure the practice continues to comply with workplace protections.