Newcastle flu vaccine mix-up leaves children unprotected

The section many parents are believed to have not completed appears under the "non consent" heading

Hundreds of schoolchildren in Newcastle have missed out on the flu vaccine after a mix-up with consent forms.

One school was told the day before its pupils were due to be vaccinated that more than 50% of forms were incomplete and it was too late to amend them.

The school's head said she had been led to believe it was a city-wide problem.

Northumbria Healthcare Trust said it had to ensure consent had been given and could not do so if forms were incomplete.

"We appreciate this has caused concern for parents of those children who were unable to be vaccinated," a spokesperson said.

The confusion appears to stem from a mandatory "consent" section which parents might have missed because it appears on the form below the "non consent" heading.

Forms from Gosforth Central Middle School were collected on 18 September.

More than two months later, on 28 November, the school was informed more than 50% were incomplete and those pupils would not be vaccinated as planned the following day.

'Extremely confusing'

In a letter to parents, the school said: "We asked if we could contact those concerned so that you could complete the form correctly last night/this morning but we were advised that this was not possible as it did not leave sufficient time for the forms to be checked."

The school said it was "frustrated and disappointed".

"We have looked at the form and we think it is extremely confusing and can see how many of you made this error without knowing," the letter said.

"We have been led to believe that this problem has occurred for lots of families and schools across the city."

A parent who also has children at nearby South Gosforth First School said the problem was identified there earlier and the forms had been recirculated.

"Apparently the authorities were concerned about flu this year and were looking to encourage "herd protection" by offering vaccination to as many as possible," she said.

"(This) defeats the purpose if people want a vaccination and you want to give them one but they ticked the wrong box."

The trust said affected parents had been given information about booking an appointment to have their child immunised.

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