In this mild rant I will show you how not all healthcare is free at the point of demand in the modern NHS. If you don’t fulfil the eligibility criteria for a potentially lifesaving vaccine then you must pay for it.
According to the Meningitis Research Foundation, “In the UK from September 2015 babies born on or after 1 July 2015 are being offered the MenB (meningococcal group B) vaccine as part of the routine immunisation schedule and babies born on or after 1 May are being offered the vaccine as part of a one off catch-up campaign.”
My daughter was born on the 24th March 2015. She is 35 days too old to receive the vaccine that will otherwise protect many of her classmates at school and college.
We started to hit this barrier when we raised the idea of vaccinating our daughter for MenB with our doctor’s surgery the Cornwall Rd Practice in Poundbury. It seems that the door is shut to us. I discussed the situation with a friend of mine who is a GP, and he has said that one of his colleagues has a child of a similar age, and no matter what they do they cannot get a jab either.
The middle classes of this world will answer this by getting out their wallet. I’m solvent enough that £150 doesn’t bother me where it comes to avoiding a killer disease (no matter how my GP attempted to comfort me saying that it is a rare disease…).
Even the middle classes have a problem. Boots offer such vaccinations to those who will pay – most of the time. Their website states, “The Meningitis B vaccination service is temporarily unavailable for new patients. Due to a shortage in the market, the manufacturer of this vaccine is unable to supply vaccines currently. Remaining stocks are being prioritised for the NHS vaccination programme and Boots fully supports this decision to help protect babies under 1 year who are the group most vulnerable to the disease.
The manufacturer does not have a date when stocks of the vaccine will be freely available again at this stage, but expects to have increased stock by summer 2016.”
I’ve dealt with the NHS long enough that given the choice the vaccination would be given to everyone, but the political masters have seen the sheer cost in eradicating a nasty and debilitating disease, and hid behind their wallets.
If anything it comes as a comfort to me that the manufacturer of the vaccines is overwhelmed by demand so those who can’t afford to protect their children are just as stuffed for now as those who can. For those who give a damn about our fellow man even though come summer we will be able to afford to pay for it, it still sickens me to the heart that I am privileged enough to afford it but kids from a different socioeconomic background won’t. The idea that healthcare is only for the rich is creeping in to Tory Britain and the idea that “I can afford it, so it doesn’t bother me” is something that only stokes the fires of class hatred in my heart – even as one of those who can afford it.
Rant over!
Richard Shrubb
