To think my doctor has overstepped the mark by sending me this letter?

[evilplaguerat]

I am a regular but I'm afraid I have namechanged because there WILL be hostility on this thread

Basically my ds2 hasn't had all his preschool immunisations, because when we received his initial appointment we deferred it because we really weren't sure we wanted him to have the MMR booster (I KNOW what many people think of this attitude, I really do)

I've just had a letter from our GP which starts

"Dear Mum and Dad

It is with some alarm that I've heard from our practice nurse that XXX has not attended multiple appointments for his preschool immunisations"

whatever you think about children not being immunised - does my GP have the right to order me to immunise him? Or am I right in feeling that it's legally our decision and the letter is inappropriate?

To be clear - I'm not asking for views on parents deciding not to immunise (although I realise I am going to get them anyway), I'm asking about the legal position of the parents and the GP and whether he can in fact strong-arm us into having them if we don't want to.

YABU. Your Doctor is only doing his job, and that letter is no more than I'd expect TBH.

All I'll say is I don't understand why some people choose not to vaccinate. Why take that sort of risk?

YABU
He is a doctor and probably has more experience of the pros and cons of immunisations than you ( that's assuming you are not a doctor too)

Haven't read all the posts but this probably explains why my dentist sends out letters addressed directly to my children, and not me. I always found this strange but now see that to stay "pc" they cannot assume that we are mr and mrs x so do this to avoid enraging parents.

Hang on though - there must be some parents that would forget to make the appointments and the surgery has to treat everyone in the same way, so I think it is reasonable for your GP to chase it up just in case you were one of those parents.

Also, I'm sure s/he would be interested to hear your reasons as to why you preferred not to immunise, in case there was a family history of something influencing the decision that he was not aware of, so that needs to be added to the notes. The other possibility is that a phone call would give him the opportunity to make sure you were making a truly informed decision and offer to give you information. I would talk to him / her but try not to be too defensive, they are only human.

Yes, there may be a drive to raise immunisation rates to meet targets and the GP may be responding to this as well, but the targets are there in the first place because immunisation is important so I don't see this as a bad thing.

Seriously, though, a practice can ask you to leave if you don't vaccinate?

It's not an issue for us, we don't have a problem with vaccinating our children, but I didn't realise you could be asked to leave if you don't.

Scary! I'd better ring up the HV tomorrow and explain how I spaced the last appointment .

exp- yes. I don't know how I discovered this, but I did.

If a GP has to reach targets and they have a non-complient patient, they can ask them to register elsewhere.

Obviously this would be a last resort and there would have to be a history of break down in dr/patient relationship.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you don't vaccinate, be prepared if your DCs have to go to hospital. The first question is, 'are the vaccinations up to date...'

Obviously not a reason to get your DCs vaccinated if you are against it, but be prepared for the question.

Think you should send your GP a letter back addressed to grandad

Sorry haven't read the whole thread but YANBU - a badly-expressed letter.
The doctor would have done better to have written:
'Dear (blah blah), after checking our records I am aware that your child (blah blah)has not had the above/below immunisations. Please may I ask you to reassure me that this is your intention, and that we haven't failed to contact you with our previous letter.
I enclose an NHS leaflet for your information.'
That way, s/he makes it clear that it is a polite and respectful request to update them, rather than making you feel disempowered in your choice.

I know of parents who have been struck off practice lists for not vaccinating. This was in the early 90s though.

I had two jabs done at GP and then got the third done at clinic. My GP was very very frosty when I explained this. I had no idea why until someone explained about money/targets.

I've only ever been to clinics that were at the GP surgery. Never realised it was because of targets.

Again, it doesn't make a difference to us, because we do vaccinate.

Just a point of interest as I didn't realise a person could be struck off for not vaccinating.

It was a long time ago expat so I dont know if things have changed now. I seem to remember a big drive in the early nineties to up vaccination (or was that when the MMR was introduced?).

The clinic system was also different in the london borough I used to live in. vaccinations wouldnt happen at the baby clinics here. They are a bloody cattle market. You are lucky if you leave with the same baby you came in with

Too tired to check through to see if anyone's said this but gobsmacked by the use of 'mum and dad' - !! I thought schools, etc, etc, were avoiding that because so as to include non-mum and dad families? Hasn't that been the case for a while? Wd be drafting my own grumpy letter back, on a number of counts, starting with 'alarm' and continuing with confusion as to sudden gender shift of either me or my (same sex) partner... Unnecessary waste of NHS surgical resources, surely...

MissSunny the single jabs can cause vaccine damage too so why would people who are worried about the mmr causing vaccine damage then give their child a single jab?

And what a load of rubbish that working class people don't question medics

Nappyaddict there is evidence that the combination of viruses in the triple jab have a synergestic effect on each other.

Reinforcing this is the documented high reactivity of the MMRV jab when used in the US. The rate of reported adverse reactions was significantly higher when the triple became a quadruple.

When Merck produced the MMRV they had to include a very high unit dosage of chicken pox virus in order to offset viral interference from the other viruses. It would be interesting to know how the viral doses compare in MMR and single vaccines. They did muck about the mumps element for a while.

www.ageofautism.com/2009/02/olmsted-on-autism-autism-explosion-followed-big-change-in-mmr-shot.html

there was a statement issued by the ACIP here that says they "no longer have a preference for the use of the MMRV over the MMR plus separate Varicella vaccine". This was because they previously HAD said the MMRV should be preferentially used, but the risk of febrile seizures with the MMRV is double that with the MMR.

This is the nearest they are going to get to saying that perhaps they were wrong about the MMRV being a good idea.

It's his job. Have only read the OP, but should add that I don't object to the smear reminders I get sent either.

DS's health letters come to "parents/guardians of XXX" - not that hard to do! "Mum and Dad" is patronising!

Evil he is. Evil. Right up there with Shipman I'd say. Evil. Imagine a GP acting on his professional responsibility. It's shocking.

Doesn't matter what you think of MMR jabs, he's still allowed to be as alarmed as he likes. It's his patient, so YAB a bit U.

Beachcomber, your source is not a very scientific one, that site has a very strong bias. And the article you link to is written by a friend of "Dr" Wakefield, I don't think anyone can take such an article seriously. Especially on looking further on the site, they allege that one scientist, hailed as the father of modern imuunology, Maurice Hillman, created not only the "autism epidemic" but also brought AIDS to the US. Against all evidence and logic.

Bunkum and bullshit of the highest order.

""DS's health letters come to "parents/guardians of XXX" - not that hard to do! "Mum and Dad" is patronising! ""

Surely this is all so subjective?

Mum and dad to some people will make their dr sound friendly and approachable.

Parent/guardian sounds more formal= less likely to go to surgery.