Flu vaccination - why bother to get consent? (edited by MNHQ at request of the OP)

That’s awful OP

Something has gone wrong. He could have been meant to have the egg vaccine or something.

When we did our vaccines at school the other week the only children that went anywhere near the nurses were the ones with written consent. Your son shouldn't have been in that group at all. Definitely follow up

I mean the school are also at fault, they have a duty of care towards the children and should have made sure that due process is followed on their premises and under their care. Ultimate responsibility lies with the medical professional who administered the injection with no consent. But the school are hardly blameless either.

This is unacceptable. You have done nothing wrong, OP. It doesn't matter whether you forgot to speak to the school or not...the nurse shouldn't have given him the flu vaccine because you didn't consent. Unless you officially gave consent via their form then you did not consent. Someone has messed up here and I would be very angry in this situation.

I don't think assumed consent can be used here.

Assumed consent is if you present to A&E for treatment and they hand you a medication/send you to x-ray.

You then choose to take the medication/go and co-operate with the x-ray being taken and consent is assumed as you are participating.

A non verbal 4 year old who does not know what is going on and is unlikely to have the frame of reference to understand the likely risks cannot be assumed to have given consent.

Likewise as parents are not present at the time they cannot be assumed to have given consent either - if they were present, that could be okay, but not ideal.

I helped arrange the vaccination visit this year. The team had lists of consent and no consent and would check twice before administration and record the details for each child.

I doubt your vaccination team is in the habit of giving random children medication.

@MiscellaneousSupportHuman I think I was using "school" in a general sense to mean the systems and processes that are communicated via the school, although as you correctly pointed out the vaccination is done by the NHS.

It’s not a failure by the school

It’s a failure by the NHS vaccination team (which is using the school as a base)

Yes you should have been asked for consent. The school where I work ask for consent for everything like face painting, riding bikes on the playground.

At my son’s secondary school from around year 9, regardless of whether you can consent or not they ask the child for consent as they are deemed old enough to decide for themselves regardless of parents wishes. At age 4 it definitely shouldn’t have been done without consent.

What the fuck? I'd be absolutely furious.

I’m a nurse and I’m pretty sure this comes under a medication error!

I work with adults but can’t see it being much different for children. We have rights of medication where we have to check identity and check it’s the right medication, the right dose, the right patient and at the right time. Surely they’ll have had to match consent with each child. Even if no harm has been done this time, id still raise it as harm could be caused next time to another child with life threatening consequences because it could have been a child with an allergy

I cannot begin to tell you how many phone calls I've made to secondary school parents to ask for consent for vaccines over the last 15 years. And don't get me started on covid testing consent.

It is 100% opt-in. Consent MUST be given for vaccines - it's an invasive medical procedure, not like does little Johny want chops or mash for lunch.

I'd be taking this to the head, governors and LEA as well as the school nursing team. Absolutely atrocious.

The form isn’t just for consent. It’s also used to say you don’t consent.
I only know this because I didn’t want mine vaccinated at school but still had to complete the form to say the same.
But without the completed form then there is no consent. I wouldn’t be happy. What if he was allergic to that type of vaccine (some have egg etc)

But you DID not consent. So how can they say you DIDN’T not consent??

Definitely don't let it lie. My dd is due hers this week and I've consented but last year I'd forgotten to do the consent form therefore she wasn't vaccinated. Even though I want her vaccinated if they'd done it without consent I would have definitely complained, how do they know he hasn't already had a flu vaccination this year?
This is very serious OP don't let it lie

Good grief, definitely complain! They wouldn't have known if you'd given him the vaccine on Saturday so he could have been given a double dose 😮

Non consent is NOT consent.

I can't agree with this. The school simply cannot do vaccinations or routine medications without explicit parental consent. The "system" they used of not not consenting is simply lazy and inadequate. Not all parents can be contacted via text, for example. The onus is very much on the school to operate a reliable way of doing this. I would raise merry hell about this - not just with the school but higher up.

It's not your fault at all OP - it would be your fault if you wanted the vaccine and then your son didn't get it because you hadn't consented - but in this case it never should have been given as they didn't have consent. It's really bad OP and i can't believe they are making it somehow your fault. Really bad. They cannot give the vaccine without consent.

From the gov website:

Yes, the (flu) vaccination is not mandatory. Parents will need to give their informed consent for the vaccination.
The nasal flu vaccine contains a highly processed form of gelatine (derived from pigs). For those who may not accept the use of porcine gelatine in medical products, an alternative injectable vaccine is available. Parents should discuss their options with their nurse or doctor.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/flu-immunisation-for-early-years-settings-including-child-minders/immunising-pre-school-children-against-flu

You definitely need to raise this with the school. They shouldn't be vaccinating without express consent from parents/guardians.

My niece nearly died after having an adverse reaction to a meningitis vaccine. It's not at all OK for them to have gone ahead without your say so.

No, that's not right - you need to opt-in not opt-out!

My DSes are older, but when I didn't give permission, they did ask him if they should call me (we'd already had a chat and decided to skip the flu vaccine this year for various reasons)

100% this. It is an absolutely fuck up on their part. I'm not anti vax by any means, however there are all kinds of shit in them, and how dare they put that into a little boy's body (particularly as he's non verbal so more vulnerable than others) without your consent. How dare they. I'm angry on your behalf. Don't let it lie.

DS is due his today. I've given consent for it. However I've verbally withdrawn consent this morning due to being advised by a HCP not to have it as he's due a minor op next week. DS is old enough and assertive enough to verbalise this (though only 10). I said any problems contact the office or tell them to ring me.

I expect this to be respected.

Without positive consent they shouldn't allow it. And consent cancelled be removed at any point.

My brother didn't have a number of vaccines due to allergies.

I'm probably vaccine but there are circumstances where you shouldn't have one.

A failure to do so is a safeguarding failure. Raise hell with the school. It's not ok.