Summarised by Centrist
An 11-year-old girl was given a Boostrix vaccination at her school despite her mother clearly ticking “no consent” on the official form.
The Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) has ruled that Health NZ breached the patient rights code.
The girl’s mother had written that she preferred her daughter receive the tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough booster from her GP in case of a reaction. When vaccination day came, the girl stayed in class, but a teacher told her to join the others.
She showed her non-consent form to a nurse, who noticed the ticked box but failed to call her mother. Another nurse then told the girl she “looked old enough to have this” and passed her to a third nurse, who gave her the injection.
Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Vanessa Caldwell said the failure to read the form correctly and confirm consent was a serious breach. She also criticised staff for telling the girl’s grandmother before informing her mother, even though the mother’s contact number was clearly listed.
Health NZ has apologised to the family, provided retraining for the nurses, and introduced triple-check procedures for consent forms. The nurse who misread the document has been asked to complete a course on informed consent and write a personal apology to the family.
The school has since withdrawn from hosting the immunisation programme.
Editor’s note: Read Centrist’s Exclusive about the Boostrix permission form given to parents here.
