{Spam?} [NVIC] UK Docs: 9 Vaccines at Once Abnormal

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National Vaccine Information Center Newsletter

e-NEWS

November 10, 2006

" Doctors have a cash incentive to give vaccines to children because a

proportion of their pay depends on it.In a typical practice of 5,000

people, GPs receive payment of £2,655 when 70 per cent of under-twos get

their jabs, which goes up to almost £8,000 for 90 per cent

coverage.....However, a British Medical Asssociation spokesman said doctors

do not like or want target-related payments for childhood vaccines. She

questioned claims that children could have been getting nine vaccines in a

day.She said: " Parents would be well aware this is not normal immunisation

practice. " - Hope, Daily Mail (UK)

Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:

There is another vaccine scandal brewing in Great Britain and this one has

to do with medical doctors, who are paid by the government for each vaccine

they give to a child, reporting in medical records that sometimes they have

given a child 9 or more vaccines on a single day. The controversy centers

on whether doctors are loading up kids with vaccines in order to make more

money or are lying about loading up kids with vaccines in order to make

more money.

The British Medical Association spokesperson publicly questioned whether

doctors would give a child 9 vaccines on one day. She told a reporter

" Parents would be well aware this is not normal immunisation practice. "

It might not be normal immunisation practice in the U.K. but it is not news

to American parents that doctors are injecting kids with lots of viral and

bacterial vaccines on one day. At the direction of the CDC, American babies

routinely get 7 or 8 vaccines on one day and toddlers can get up to 12

vaccines on the same day.

www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=415316 &

in_page_id=1770

Children at risk as documents reveal 'shambolic' vaccinations system

Daily Mail, U.K.

November 8, 2006

by JENNY HOPE

Children's vaccination levels could be in danger because of " shambolic "

record keeping, it has been revealed.

Fears that children are getting too many jabs - or that doctors are

fiddling the figures to earn bonuses - have surfaced as a result of a

nationwide project to transfer medical notes to a central NHS computer.

Up to 60 per cent more shots have been administered to children than should

have been -with some apparently getting nine in a day, say some figures.

The problems have been uncovered in London, where primary care trusts are

grappling with major " problems with the system. "

But experts believe this is the tip of the iceberg as the capital is

leading the way for the rest of the country.

The Department of Health insisted its figures showed children were getting

the correct doses of vaccine.

It denied there was evidence to suggest doctors were either giving too many

shots or making up statistics.

A spokesman said coverage for the childhood immunisation programme was

currently around 95 per cent which suggested vaccines were being

administered correctly.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has also rejected claims that doctors

are exaggeratng the number of jabs they give in order to qualify for

bonuses, saying GP medical records are among the best in the NHS.

An investigation is already underway into a new computer system in London

which has missed thousands of children off its system for vital

appointments or reminders.

The problem stems from faults in software, operated by BT as part of the

£20 billion NHS computer system that is supposed to keep track of

children's immunisation history.

The software known as a Child Health Interim Application is being used by

10 primary care trusts across the capital.

But the Health Protection Agency says eight out of 10 trusts have been

unable to submit data because of " problems with the system. "

According to one source the " shambles " means NHS staff have been forced to

input information manually, causing huge delays.

Doctors have a cash incentive to give vaccines to children because a

proportion of their pay depends on it.

In a typical practice of 5,000 people, GPs receive payment of £2,655 when

70 per cent of under-twos get their jabs, which goes up to almost £8,000

for 90 per cent coverage.

However, a BMA spokesman said doctors do not like or want target-related

payments for childhood vaccines.

She questioned claims that children could have been getting nine vaccines

in a day.

She said: " Parents would be well aware this is not normal immunisation

practice. "

" GP record keeping is acknowledged to be among the best in the NHS and it

seems more likely that it's some kind of glitch at a higher level, where

the information is being processed into a central system. "

" Of course we would not condone GPs who are fiddling the figures, but we

have no evidence that this is taking place. " she added.

The Department of Health spokesman said it was already aware of a problem

with record keeping in parts of London, but the supply of vaccines on the

ground did not support massive wastage or duplicate prescribing.

She said: " Last year, the Department of Health supplied 2.3 million doses

of the five in one vaccine (diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and

Hib) for the UK. "

" That is against a target population of 2.1 million, which allows an eight

per cent margin for use in children over the age of two and for any

wastage, such as if a vaccine was spoiled. "

She added: " We know there is a problem with collecting surveillance data

for the London PCTs. "

" Senior officials at the Department of Health, Health Protection Agency and

Connecting for Health are all looking at options for improving this

situation. "

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