Deaf woman given Covid vaccine instead of flu jab due to lack of BSL interpreter

A deaf woman referred to in official documents only as Samantha received a Covid-19 vaccine instead of the flu jab she had requested, after no British Sign Language interpreter was made available for her appointment. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has published a report into the incident, which occurred during the NHS winter vaccination programme. According to the report, Samantha was unable to clearly communicate her wishes and staff were unable to understand her needs without an interpreter, leading to the administration of the wrong vaccine. The PHSO found the failure constituted a significant breach of the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled patients under the Equality Act. The health trust involved has since apologised and agreed to review its accessibility policies for deaf and hard-of-hearing patients. Disability campaigners said the case highlighted a systemic failure to ensure communication support at medical appointments, noting similar complaints had been raised repeatedly over several years.