Hundreds of children at risk after bungling doctor gives incorrect vaccines

A doctor has been reprimanded after hundreds of children were given the wrong vaccines. The incorrect vaccines were given to 221 children by the GP in Barnsley, south Yorkshire, as a single jab instead of separate vaccinations. Re-vaccinations are now being offered to all the children affected who were given jabs between January 2009 and April this year. The jabs were supposed to protect the children against diptheria, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, hib and measles, mumps and rubella. National guidelines state these should be given separately to ensure maximum protection. Instead, they were mixed and given as one. Mother-of-three Rebecca Hirst, 34, whose five-year-old daughter Poppi was wrongly vaccinated, said she got a letter on Tuesday informing her of the error and offering re-vaccination.

The incorrect vaccines were given as a single jab instead of separate vaccinations (posed by models)

She said: 'You put your trust in a doctor to do things right. It is disgusting what has happened and in my eyes it shows incompetence. 'Poppi was given the injection when she started nursery at three years old and she is nearly six. So for three years she has been walking round and has not been immunised. It is a massive failure, if anything else. I’m going to complain to the General Medical Council.' Claire Hoyes, 26, also of Barnsley, received a letter for her six-year-old who was vaccinated at the surgery more than two years ago. She said: 'It is ridiculous that she has not been protected all this time. I remember taking her for the injection and them being mixed together and never thought anything of it because you trust your doctor.'

The jabs were supposed to protect the children against diptheria, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, hib and measles, mumps and rubella

The blunder was brought to the attention of Barnsley NHS public health team in April by a healthcare professional. Since then, the trust has reviewed every child’s medical records from the practice, looked at every vaccination they received and traced the children involved. Dr Ken McDonald, the medical director at NHS Barnsley, has written to all the parents offering reassurance and re-vaccination after receiving advice from the Health Protection Agency.

Sharon Stoltz, head of public health for Barnsley said: 'In April we became aware that some children at one GP practice in Barnsley were given some routine childhood vaccinations which were mixed together into a single vaccination when they should have been given separately. 'Action was taken immediately once this was identified to ensure no further vaccinations were given in this way. The GP practice is now giving immunisations in lione with national guidance. We have worked quickly to investigate the issue and to identify those parents that needed to be informed.' The doctor involved has been required to undertake extra training and participate in a mentoring programme. Staff at the surgery declined to comment.

Source: Daily Mail UK 

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