Deaf patient given WRONG jab after 'completely unacceptable' hospital mix-up

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The case has exposed a lack of NHS resources for people living with hearing disabilities

A deaf woman was given the wrong vaccine after her doctor’s surgery failed to show her a British Sign Language video that would have flagged the error.

Samantha had booked a flu jab, but instead received a Covid vaccine, which the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has said has a “profound impact” on her.

She had reportedly shown a nurse a note on her phone specifying flu jab only, but staff proceeded on the belief that she wanted the Covid vaccine, obtaining consent through her grandmother, who had early-stage dementia and wasn’t in the room.

The case is one of several cited in the PHSO report, which concluded that disabled people are being systematically let down by inaccessible NHS public-service communication.

The problem stems partly from a lack of BSL interpreters, large print, and audio materials for people with disabilities, neurodivergence or limited English.

A second case included in the report describes hospital staff at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust asking the teenage grandson of a deaf heart failure patient, Alan Graham, to interpret the news that his grandfather might die, after no professional interpreter was available.

Since 2020, the PHSO has concluded 623 investigations into failures to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, upholding or partly upholding 496 of them.

Following its probe into Samantha’s case, the PHSO ordered the surgery to apologise and pay her £450; the practice has since signed a contract with a sign language interpreting company.

NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board said it was “very sorry” for her experience, and University Hospitals Birmingham apologised separately, saying “we did not get things right”.

It said it had added measures to support deaf patients better.

The Department of Health and Social Care called the cases “deeply upsetting” and “completely unacceptable” while NHS England said it had refreshed its standards on supporting patients with communication needs.

The PHSO’s chief executive, Rebecca Hilsenrath, said failures like these can erode public trust: “When people feel they are not listened to and that their needs are not met, they lose trust in the very services designed to support them.”