“Every parent deserves the chance to protect their child,” said Health Secretary Wes Streeting, as the Government confirmed health visitors will begin offering vaccinations in family homes from mid‑January. Twelve pilots will run across North East & Yorkshire, the North West, the Midlands, the South West and London to reach families who struggle to get to the GP.

Health visiting teams will add vaccinations to routine contacts-on front rooms, at kitchen tables, wherever families are seen-so children who’ve missed appointments aren’t left unprotected. This won’t replace GP surgeries; it’s a safety net for households facing travel costs, language barriers, shift work or no GP registration. Nurses will receive extra training for safety and for sensitive conversations with worried parents, and eligible families will be identified through NHS records and health visitor notes.

The need is clear in the data. National coverage for the second MMR dose at age five fell to 83.9% in 2023/24, with no region hitting the 95% level recommended to prevent outbreaks. The North East topped the table at 89.7%, still short of the mark, while the pre‑school booster averaged just 82.7% across England and London trailed at 72.8% compared with 88.8% in the North East.

The North West has felt the risk most starkly. In Liverpool, only around 73% of five‑year‑olds had both MMR doses last year and a child died with measles in July 2025. “In Liverpool, we’re down below 74%,” said Prof Matt Ashton, the city’s Director of Public Health, warning that low immunity lets measles spread fast.

Outbreaks have been bubbling since late 2023, first in the West Midlands and then across several regions, largely among unvaccinated children. UKHSA has repeatedly warned of further surges without higher coverage, noting hundreds of confirmed cases through 2024–25.

The pilots are funded with £2 million for a year, starting mid‑January 2026, and will be evaluated before any national roll‑out from 2027. Ministers say the focus is families who’ve slipped through the system; health visitors-already trusted in communities-will bring jabs to the doorstep to close the access gap.

Parents will also notice a change to the schedule this week. The combined MMRV jab, which adds chickenpox protection to measles, mumps and rubella, replaces the MMR in England’s routine programme, with doses at 12 and 18 months. NHS guidance set the change from 1 January 2026; the Department of Health and Social Care has flagged 2 January as services reopen after the New Year break. A selective catch‑up for older children runs from November 2026 to March 2028.

Digital back‑up is coming too. A new “My Children” feature in the NHS App is set to provide a modern alternative to the paper Red Book, letting parents view records and vaccination history. NHS England is also piloting a family‑access tool so parents can switch profiles and book on behalf of their children from their phone.

For northern families, the message is simple: if you’re invited by your health visitor, it’s an extra route to get your child protected; if you prefer the surgery, the GP remains the first port of call. Households chosen for the pilot will be identified by the NHS using local records so support is targeted where it’s most needed.

Local delivery will vary, as it already does with health visiting. In 2023/24, completion of 2–2½‑year developmental reviews ranged widely-from 58.2% in Kirklees to 100% in Rochdale-showing why flexible, community‑based services matter across our towns and cities.