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Home educated young people excluded from NHS flu vaccination...

Posted By Daisies95

"Home educated young people excluded from NHS flu vaccination."

About: NHS Lothian / Covid 19 Vaccination Programme

(as a parent/guardian),

Another battle this year to get my home educated child a flu vaccine on the NHS. After being passed from pillar to post on the phone, the 5th number I called helped me create a login and book one of very few scarce appointments at a centre 5 miles away.

We travelled there, however two nurses refused to administer the vaccine, despite my child  meeting multiple eligibility criteria, and the injectable vaccine being licenced from 6 months of age. 

In my view, this rigid, petty, mealy mouthed gatekeeping, denying someone a vaccine for non-clinical reasons, the expenditure of significant time and resources trying to stop someone getting a vaccine to which they are entitled, and the preference of NHS staff for pouring unused vaccines down the sink rather than give it to someone not meeting their criteria (as seen during the COVID pandemic) is the reason we have such high rates of hospitalisation and deaths from communicable diseases. 

Our only option now is to pay for a vaccine which should have been provided free of charge, for a young carer living with two clinically vulnerable adults, one of whom also cannot access a vaccine due to being housebound, which is a whole other story. 

I am also deeply concerned for all the other children and young people who are home educated or not attending state schools for whatever reason. These are an already vulnerable cohort of young people and I feel that failing to provide them access to vaccination is grossly unfair and a false economy. 

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Responses

Response from Mariska Vernon-Stroud, Patient Experience Team Lead, Patient Experience Team, NHS Lothian 6 days ago
Mariska Vernon-Stroud
Patient Experience Team Lead, Patient Experience Team,
NHS Lothian

I gather feedback from patients to recognise good practise and supporting improving services in NHS Lothian.

Submitted on 14/11/2025 at 10:16
Published on Care Opinion at 10:16

Dear Daisies95,

Thank you for taking the time to share your story on Care Opinion. I am sorry that you’ve experienced such difficulty getting a flu vaccination for your child, having secured an appointment and then not having the vaccine administered by staff on the day. I apologise this is not the experience we want anyone to have. Having received your story, I shared it with the Community Vaccination Team who provided the following response.

‘I am so sorry you experienced difficulty in securing flu vaccination for your child.

NHS Lothian is committed to ensuring equity of access to vaccination services. To support our home-schooled children and young people we request a list of who these individuals are from local authorities Education Service. A letter is then sent to parents/carers advising them to get in touch with us directly to secure an appointment at one of our mop-up clinics which run across all four Lothian Health and Social Care Partnerships.

While we strive to contact parents/carers on the list supplied to us from Education services, we are cognisant that not all are registered with their local authority and urge parents and carers to share our contact details within any home-school networks or social media groups.

Under the Vaccinations page on NHS Lothian's website, the tab for "routine school vaccinations (including 'flu)" provides the following information

Home-Schooled Children: Education representatives will arrange vaccinations with the Community Vaccination Team. Unable to Vaccinate at School: Contact the CVT at loth.cvtschools@nhs.scot or by calling 0131 446 4082.

I am sorry you were unable to contact us directly in this instance and ask that you contact us using our direct number above to secure 'flu vaccination for your child.’

If you followed the steps above when you originally tried to book a vaccine for your child, we would value hearing more about your experience to understand where the process has broken down and so we can look to improve things. Please contact the Patient Experience Team by email LOTH.feedback@nhs.scot or Telephone on 0131 536 3370 (Mon-Fri, 9am-2pm) to share your details.

I hope this provides you with some useful information and that you are able to secure a vaccination for your child.

Kind regards,

Mariska

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Daisies95 (a parent/guardian)

Thank you for your response. I have paid privately now for a vaccination which my daughter has at a local chemist, as the most important thing was to just get her, and us, protected, instead of continuing to engage in a protracted and bureaucratic battle with the NHS when the flu has already hit early and hard this season.

I would like to point out that I have been registered as home educating with the local authority since 2023 yet never once have we been proactively contacted about a vaccination, every year I have had to take them to the general vaccine clinic and really advocate for one due to the same unwillingness to give the injection to under 16s despite it being licensed from 6 months, however every other time they have ultimately agreed to give it.

The number provided was actually the first one I called, before being passed around four others. Whilst the telephone staff were polite and sympathetic, none of them seemed to know how to obtain a vaccine for a non-state educated young person.

In my opinion, there is clearly a system level failing here and a need for education of NHS staff around the provision of vaccines to this group and others.

The pharmacist also told us they had had dozens of people in paying for a vaccine who met eligibility criteria on the NHS but who couldn't access one, and that this has been a real issue since people can no longer get vaccinated at their local GP but have to scramble online for appointments that are few and far between, at centres miles from where they live.

Response from Mariska Vernon-Stroud, Patient Experience Team Lead, Patient Experience Team, NHS Lothian 6 days ago
Mariska Vernon-Stroud
Patient Experience Team Lead, Patient Experience Team,
NHS Lothian

I gather feedback from patients to recognise good practise and supporting improving services in NHS Lothian.

Submitted on 14/11/2025 at 13:10
Published on Care Opinion at 13:10

Dear Daisies95,

Thank you for the additional detail, information and feedback which gives us further insight into the difficulties you experienced. I will share you response with the Community Vaccination team.

Thank you once. I'm glad your daughter has received a vaccination, although I am sorry that you had to pay for this.

Kind regards,

Mariska

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
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