A patient named Samantha, a deaf woman, was given the wrong vaccine at her doctor's surgery due to a sign language error. According to a report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), staff failed to provide a British Sign Language interpreter, which led to Samantha being vaccinated with the Covid jab instead of the flu jab she had booked. The PHSO said that 496 out of 623 investigations related to reasonable adjustments since April 2020 were upheld or partly upheld, highlighting a pattern of inaccessible communication in public services. The Department of Health and Social Care has condemned the experience as "completely unacceptable".
Written by the local model on 2026-08-19,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A deaf woman, identified as *Samantha*, was given the wrong vaccine, a Covid vaccine instead of a flu jab, at her doctor's surgery because she was not provided with a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. According to a report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), the nurse failed to show Samantha a BSL video that would have highlighted the error, resulting in the wrong vaccine being administered. The PHSO stated that disabled people are being let down by inaccessible communications in public services. The Department of Health and Social Care described the situation as "completely unacceptable" and acknowledged that NHS and social care organizations have a duty to make their services accessible. Samantha reported that the experience had a "profound impact" on her, highlighting the importance of accessible communication for individuals with disabilities. This incident is one of many examples cited by the PHSO of public services failing to meet the accessible communication needs of people with disabilities.
Written for “Sign Language Medical Error” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
- Published
A deaf woman was given the wrong vaccine because she was not provided with a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter at her doctor's surgery, a report says.
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report → publish → surgery
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) said disabled people were being let down by inaccessible communications.
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people → say → communications
It said the patient, Samantha, had booked a flu jab but was instead given a Covid vaccine after staff failed to show her a BSL video which would have highlighted the error.
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which → say → error
She said the experience had had a "profound impact" on her.
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experience → say → her
The Department of Health and Social Care said the "deeply upsetting stories" were "completely unacceptable" and NHS and social care organisations had a duty to make services accessible.
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services → say → duty
The PHSO investigates complaints about UK government departments, public organisations and the NHS in England.
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PHSO → investigate → England
It said public services were legally required to support people with their accessible communication needs, which might be due to a disability, neurodivergence or English not being their first language.
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English → say → disability
Samantha had booked her flu and Covid jabs for separate weeks and showed a nurse a note on her phone which said she was there for the "flu jab only", the PHSO said.
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PHSO → book → jab
Despite that, the practice said it believed it had correctly established Samantha wanted the Covid vaccine and had got her consent through her grandmother, even though she had early-stage dementia and was not in the treatment room.
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she → say → room
Following an investigation, the PHSO recommended the surgery should apologise and pay Samantha £450.
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surgery → follow → 450
It has also since signed a contract with a sign language interpreting company.
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The NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board said it was "very sorry" about Samantha's experience, and that it expected practices to make "reasonable adjustments to support effective communication".
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practices → say → communication
The PHSO said it had found disabled people risked not getting vital information about their healthcare, finances or employment because of a lack of accessible formats such as large print or audio materials.
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people → say → materials
Since April 2020, it said it had concluded 623 investigations related to reasonable adjustments, of which 496 were upheld or partly upheld.
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496 → say → which
The report also highlighted the case of Alan Graham, who was deaf and was being treated for heart failure at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust.
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who → highlight → Trust
When an interpreter was not available, hospital staff asked his teenage grandson to interpret for the family and tell Graham's deaf daughter that he might die.
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he → ask → daughter
Following an ombudsman investigation, the trust apologised and said "we did not get things right".
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things → follow → investigation
They said new measures had been introduced to help deaf patients, including strengthening awareness and accessibility arrangements to ensure patients' communication needs were better met.
"We remain committed to learning from this and to providing inclusive, compassionate care for all our patients," they said.
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they → say → patients
Following the report by the ombudsman, NHS England said it was "completely unacceptable for those who are deaf or have visual loss to face barriers to accessing or understanding the healthcare they need".
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they → follow → healthcare
It added it had recently refreshed its standards setting out how services should provide safe and effective care for those with communication needs.
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services → add → needs
The PHSO said that while it was not a regulator, it could order public organisations to pay financial compensation if it upheld a complaint.
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it → say → complaint
Rebecca Hilsenrath, its chief executive, said: "When people feel they are not listened to and that their needs are not met, they lose trust in the very services designed to support them."
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they → say → them
In its report, the PHSO highlighted North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust as a good example of providing effective communication, after it worked with local advocacy groups and deaf people to improve its service for deaf patients who reported feeling excluded.
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who → highlight → patients
The trust has provided guides for patients on how to access interpreting and translation services, increasing the use of interpreters by 50% in one year.
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trust → provide → year
