Encouraging NHS staff to take COVID 19 vaccinations without mentioning side effects could be deemed negligent, according to employment lawyers and a workers union.
It comes as a leaked image of a slide and video addressed to staff shows a head nurse urging COVID-19 vaccine uptake among health care workers, without explicitly mentioning side effects.
The image shows Alison Lynch, group deputy chief nurse at Manchester Foundation Trust (MFT), alongside the words, “Flu and COVID vaccinations are safe, effective, and easily accessible.”
It urges NHS staff to “take this opportunity to protect yourselves, our patients, and our colleagues.”
Under a section called COVID Fact, it says that, “Getting vaccinated is just as important if you’ve already had COVID as it is if you haven’t.
“It provides additional protection, beyond that of natural immunity from previous infection alone, against serious complications of infection.”
The image has sparked a broader discussion about the pitfalls of not communicating potential side effects for medications, including COVID-19 vaccines.
Autumn Booster Vaccine
A representative of commercial solicitors The Jonathan Lea Network, expressed general concerns about the inadequate communication of potential side effects associated with various medications, including COVID-19 vaccines.“It is absolutely correct that no medical treatment can ever be considered 100 percent safe and effective and there are many factors which will need to be considered when health care staff advise their patients as to which treatments to have, if any,” George Harrison, a Trainee Solicitor at the firm, told The Epoch Times via email.
He said that a key factor to consider is the side effects of the COVID-19 injections.
The NHS is currently rolling out its autumn COVID-19 vaccine booster, with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JVCI) advising that boosters be offered to frontline health and social care workers, as well as people aged 65 and older.
Winter respiratory vaccinations are not compulsory for NHS staff in England and Wales but are “strongly recommended.”
Under the UK Supreme Court case of Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board (2015), doctors must use their professional judgement when examining potential treatments, but patients themselves must be the final arbiters as to whether they accept or reject the doctor’s advice.
Mr. Harrison explained that ultimately patients must be fully informed of their recommended treatment, with discussions on potential alternatives plus disclosure of material risks inherent in the treatment and suggested alternatives.
“Of course, it is abundantly clear that doctors do not need to disclose risks inherent in the medical treatment when patients have no wish to learn of them (in Montgomery, the court compared this to a hypothetical patient who decides to not read the information leaflet enclosed within their medicine). However, doctors should not assume that patients do not wish to learn of any risks,” he said.
He said that doctors must not fail to disclose material risks inherent in treatment merely because “they wish to prohibit patients from making what the doctor believes to be an ‘unwise’ decision.”
“It could therefore be seen as negligent for a health care professional to fail to disclose the material risks of the medical treatment,” he added.
Trade Union
One trade union said that it is challenging employees’ conduct on vaccines, and is the only such union to do so.Stephen Morris, general secretary of the Workers of England Union (WEU), told The Epoch Times by email that he has seen the promotion of COVID-19 vaccines by professional health workers who, he claims, failed to inform people of possible side effects.
“This has not gone away,” he said.
Out of the total number of 355,000 reports of “serious” side effects to the Yellow Card reporting system, fewer than 10,000 were reported by medical professionals.
With Yellow Card reporting, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says that “conclusions on the safety and risks of the vaccines cannot be made on the data shown in the report alone.”
“Even now the NHS is promoting the COVID vaccine as ’safe and effective' which goes against the long record of adverse effects listed on the Yellow Card reporting system, and much more which has come to light. The WEU is the only trade union currently challenging employers against their employees’ conduct on vaccines,” said Mr. Morris.
