Ombudsman Faults GP Surgery Over Wrong Vaccine, Orders £450 Payment

Q: How did a routine clinic visit result in a deaf woman receiving the wrong vaccine despite showing a written warning?

She received the wrong vaccine because the surgery failed to make basic communication adjustments and relied on assumptions instead of clear, direct consent. Samantha, who is deaf and has early-stage dementia, had booked separate appointments for her flu and Covid vaccinations. At the clinic, she showed staff a note on her phone stating she was there for the “flu jab only.” But staff did not provide a British Sign Language interpreter or use a BSL video tool, despite those being reasonable adjustments that could have confirmed her wishes. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found that staff mishandled her communication needs and incorrectly believed consent had been established through her grandmother. That belief was flawed because her grandmother was not in the treatment room and should not have been treated as a substitute for proper communication or valid consent. The case shows how a routine appointment turned into a safety failure: the written warning was not properly acted on, no professional communication support was used, and staff proceeded with treatment without ensuring Samantha had understood and agreed to the vaccine being given. The ombudsman said this was part of a wider pattern in which disabled patients are put at risk when services fail to identify, record, share and meet communication needs. After the investigation, the surgery was told to apologise, pay Samantha £450, and has since contracted with a sign language interpreting company.

2 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 19

Samantha, a deaf patient, was given a Covid shot instead of a flu jab after her GP surgery failed to provide a British Sign Language interpreter or show a BSL video that could have caught the mistake.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman said Samantha had booked the two vaccines for different weeks and showed a phone note saying "flu jab only," yet the practice said it believed consent for Covid vaccination had been obtained via her grandmother.
The ombudsman told the surgery to apologise and pay £450; it has since signed a contract with a sign-language interpreting company, while NHS Northamptonshire and the Department of Health called the case unacceptable.
In a wider warning, the PHSO said inaccessible communication is leaving disabled people without vital information, upholding or partly upholding 496 of 623 reasonable-adjustment investigations since April 2020.
The report also cited a Birmingham cancer case in which staff used a teenage grandson to interpret end-of-life information, underscoring broader NHS pressure to meet refreshed accessibility standards.

Sources

BBC.com1d ago

Deaf Patient Given Wrong Vaccine Due to BSL Interpreter Error, Ombudsman Reports

bbc.co.uk1d ago

Deaf Patient Samantha Given Wrong Vaccine Due to BSL Interpreter Absence

How did a routine clinic visit result in a deaf woman receiving the wrong vaccine despite showing a written warning?

With hundreds of upheld complaints, what hidden dangers still await disabled patients navigating a healthcare system ignoring basic communication needs?

Why were children forced to translate their grandfather's do-not-resuscitate order instead of trained medical staff providing a professional interpreter?

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2 total

BBC.com1d ago

Deaf Patient Given Wrong Vaccine Due to BSL Interpreter Error, Ombudsman Reports

bbc.co.uk1d ago

Deaf Patient Samantha Given Wrong Vaccine Due to BSL Interpreter Absence

Ombudsman Faults GP Surgery Over Wrong Vaccine, Orders £450 Payment

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