Deaf woman administered COVID-19 vaccine in error

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman-19th August 2026

‘A Deaf woman was given the wrong vaccination at a GP surgery because staff failed to provide a BSL interpreter. Samantha, whose first language is BSL, attended the Practice for a pre-booked flu vaccination, but instead was given the COVID-19 vaccination without her consent.’

‘She said there was no interpreter present, and staff attempted to communicate with her through her grandmother, without knowing whether she knew sign language. Staff also failed to show her the NHS COVID-19 vaccination video which explains the vaccine and possible side effects in BSL. ‘

..Had she been allergic to any component of the vaccine..

‘We found that the Practice did not know what vaccine Samantha had booked the appointment for, so the nurse asked her which injection she wanted. It said Samantha had not requested an interpreter and that it used other ways to communicate with her. This included the nurse removing their mask so Samantha could lip read if required.’

‘The Practice believed it correctly established Samantha wanted the COVID-19 vaccine and got her consent through her grandmother. Samantha said her grandmother has early-stage dementia and did not come with her into the treatment room.’

‘Our adviser said it was not appropriate for the nurse to communicate to a patient’s relative instead of using a qualified BSL interpreter. There was no way to know if Samantha’s grandmother was a qualified translator.’

‘NHS England advises that a BSL COVID-19 vaccination consent video is available if an interpreter cannot be present in these situations. There is no record that Samantha was given the opportunity to watch this video.’

‘We recommended the Practice should apologise and pay £450 to Samantha to recognise the distress she experienced. We also recommended it should introduce service improvements in line with the NHS England accessibility guidance.’

‘Following our investigation, the Practice now has a contract with a sign language interpreting company and displays posters in the surgery with information on services available for patients with impairments.’

Thanks for your attention.

All feedback welcome.

End