| Shock as son, 14, signed his own consent form |
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| Written by Kayleigh Mcleod | ||||||
 Angry parents of a St Leonard’s schoolboy have hit out after their son was immunised at school without their consent. James and Helen McLaughlin were “knocked for six” when they discovered that son James, 14, had received his combined tetanus/diphtheria/polio vaccine at St Andrew’s and St Bride’s high school despite having no written permission from them. James Jnr, who has the medical condition IgA – which stops his body fighting off infection – was asked to fill in his own consent form. Any record of this document has since been misplaced. The second year pupil took an adverse reaction to the jab and had to be sent home. Mum Helen said: “This was the first thing we knew about James getting immunised. “He had a bad headache, felt sick and had a swollen arm. When we called the health board to complain about not being telephoned sooner, we were informed that as long as my son was competent, he could sign his own consent form.” Dad James and Helen were shocked to discover that it is indeed the law and want parents know that their children can give their own consent. Mr McLaughlin said “I’ve been talking to parents all weekend and no-one seems to know that this is the case. I would say 95 per cent of parents don’t know about this. Our own doctor in Calderwood was unaware that this was the law.” He suggested that even if a comprehensive leaflet of the legislation, which has been in place since June 2006, was sent out with consent forms it would make parents more aware. A spokesman for NHS Lanarkshire said: “Across Scotland, children aged 12 to 16 years old do not require parental consent to be immunised as set out in guidance from Health Protection Scotland. “A child aged 12 to 16 years can consent themselves if deemed capable by a doctor or nurse of understanding the nature and possible consequences of the immunisation. “A parental consent form is sent home with children prior to immunisation. However, this states that failure to return the form does not mean that the child will not be immunised. “If parents have concerns regarding immunisation we would urge them to contact us and we would be happy to discuss these with them.” The McLaughlin’s have lodged a complaint with East Kilbride MSP Andy Kerr.
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