Talking to your doctor about vaccines
If a medical professional is recommending a treatment for you or your child, you have the right to ask questions. Informed consent is impossible if you don't fully understand the risks and benefits.
Vaccines are not always easy to discuss, but we owe it to our children to make sure we understand the implications of any medical procedure, vaccines included.
Your doctor has the same goal as you: a healthy, happy child. Hopefully they will be willing to talk about vaccines with you. A mutually warm and respectful working relationship is in everyone’s best interest.
Even if you decide against a face-to-face discussion, you may find the information below useful.
All patients have the right to be listened to, and to be given the information they need to make a decision and the time and support they need to understand it.
General Medical Council, UK
Ready to talk? Prepare for the conversation
- Take a list of questions that you want to ask (we’ve made some suggestions below).
- Take a pen and paper, to make notes – or record the meeting, if you have the consent of all attendees.
- Attend without your child, so that you are not distracted or pressured to make a decision there and then.
- Attend with another adult – your partner, a family member or friend – so that you can discuss it with them afterwards.
Unlike doctors, who can appeal to their credentials, I do not get to just say, “trust me.” I need to prove claims I assert with real data. Real proof.
Aaron Siri, lawyer and author of Vaccines, Amen
What next?
If your doctor will not answer your questions, or does not answer them to your satisfaction, then you may feel unable to give informed consent.
You might request that a note is added to your medical file to say that a discussion has taken place, and informed consent was not possible at that time (if that is your conclusion).
You could tell them that you need more time, and want to do more research, before making a final decision.
It is your decision. Your child: your choice.
You may like to support your research with further reading.
Gillick Competence
Older children and informed consent
Parents of older children should be aware of Gillick Competence, particularly when vaccines are administered at school.
Gillick Competence was ruled by the Supreme Court in Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority [1985] UKHL 7
The judgment states that: ‘Only in exceptional cases does the guidance contemplate [the doctor] exercising his clinical judgment without the parent’s knowledge and consent.’ (per Lord Scarman at paragraph 181)
This exceptional nature is not always made clear, however. The NHS states:
‘Children under the age of 16 can consent to their own treatment if they're believed to have enough intelligence, competence and understanding to fully appreciate what's involved in their treatment. This is known as being Gillick competent.’
Source: NHS https://www.nhs.uk/tests-and-treatments/consent-to-treatment/children
The UK Medical Freedom Alliance has spoken out about the risks of schools being used to deliver vaccines. The NHS is also contacting young teenagers directly, excluding their parents from medical decisions.
‘Medical discussions, decisions and interventions for children must revert to the privacy of a consultation with their own GP or Practice Nurse. A child should always be accompanied by a parent, the healthcare professional should follow a proper process of informed consent, discussing risks and benefits in an open and non-coercive way, and the decision made by parents (with or without input from the child) should be accepted and respected.’
Parents and carers may choose to be particularly clear about their wishes regarding vaccination – for example, by writing a letter (see below) to be kept in their child’s school or medical file.
It is also important to discuss informed consent with our children as they get older, and to share what we learn with them, so they understand our decisions and are equipped to make their own.