Strengthening Wales' Immunisation Workforce Through Collaborative Guidance Development

Published 23/02/2026

Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) is pleased to share an important development that supports the safe and effective delivery of immunisation services across NHS Wales.

In July 2025, the revised National Minimum Standards and Core Curriculum for Vaccination Training were published by GOV.UK. While this national guidance provides a strong foundation for immunisation practice, it was recognised that some elements did not fully reflect the structures and requirements of NHS Wales.

To ensure the guidance fully reflects the operational requirements of NHS Wales, organisations across Wales collaborated to produce Wales‑specific advisory guidance that complements the national standards and supports a consistent, skilled immunisation workforce.

Access the documents

All documents can be viewed here: Immunisation training resources and events - Public Health Wales

• National Minimum Standards and Core Curriculum for Vaccination Training
• Advisory document to support the delivery of the National Minimum Standards and Core Curriculum for vaccination Training in NHS Wales
• Health Care Support Worker (HCSW) immunisation training and assessment of competence. All Wales guidance statements

Why this matters for Wales?

The Wales‑specific guidance builds on the strong practice already in place and aims to:

• Strengthen clarity around training expectations to support our skilled immunisation workforce.
• Enhance consistency across Wales, supporting an efficient and unified approach to service delivery.
• Ensure Health Care Support Workers (HCSWs) can continue to work safely, confidently and to the top of their competence.

This work strengthens alignment across Wales and supports the continued delivery of high‑quality immunisation services.

HEIW’s contribution to this work

HEIW supported the development of this Wales‑specific guidance by contributing expertise in workforce education, training and competence frameworks. Through close collaboration with Public Health Wales and colleagues across the system, HEIW helped ensure the guidance aligns with established learning pathways and continues to support a confident, capable and consistent immunisation workforce across Wales.

Supporting HCSWs – reinforcing clarity and consistency

As part of this work, partners identified an opportunity to provide further clarity around HCSW immunisation training and competence assessment in Wales. To support this, a set of All‑Wales guidance statements for HCSWs has been developed.

These statements:

• Reflect the joint recommendations of the All-Wales Immunisation Task & Finish Group and the Leads Group for Primary & Community Care for HCSW Development, Vaccine Programme Wales and Public Health.
• Provide clear expectations for training, supervision, and competence assessment for HCSWs involved in immunisation.
• Align with existing workforce frameworks, supporting consistency across organisations and settings.

The guidance has now been reviewed and endorsed by the Vaccine Programme Wales, ensuring robust governance and a unified national approach.

A true example of collaborative working

This work demonstrates what can be achieved through strong national collaboration across multiple professional groups and organisations. By working together, we have created clear, practical guidance that supports the safe expansion and development of the immunisation workforce in Wales.  Most importantly, these efforts help ensure that people across Wales continue to receive high‑quality, safe, and accessible immunisation services.

“We are pleased to have supported this collaborative work, which brings greater clarity and consistency to immunisation training across Wales. Ensuring our workforce is supported with clear, nationally aligned guidance is essential to delivering safe, effective care for the people of Wales.”
Patricia Mathias-Lloyd, Education development Manager, HEIW