Health board: We’ve had no complaints about wasted vials
Concerns over wasted coronavirus vaccines have never been raised with NHS Lanarkshire.
The health board have denied claims that 14 vials of the Pfizer vaccine had been wasted, and this week revealed that no one had contacted them with concerns about it.
Central Scotland MSP Margaret Mitchell had taken the issue to the First Minister.
But a spokesperson for NHS Lanarkshire said that no one has“raised these concerns directly with us”.
At First Minister’s questions on February 15, Ms Mitchell asked about 14 vials of the Pfizer vaccine which allegedly had to be thrown out at Whitehill Neighbourhood Centre in Hamilton.
According to Ms Mitchell, the vials were discarded on February 4 or 5 after having been taken out of the deep freeze five days earlier.
Each vial of the Pfizer vaccine contains between five and six doses, so up to 84 doses could have been wasted.
NHS Lanarkshire have said that they are willing to address any concerns raised in regard to the vaccine claimed to have been wasted and have urged Ms Mitchell and staff members to contact them.
Ms Mitchell was disappointed with NHS Lanarkshire’s response to the claims that the vaccine had been wasted.
She said:“At present there is no data collected on how many doses are derived from each vial and how this relates to the total doses delivered and how many vials are used.
“This makes it impossible for NHS Lanarkshire to deny the story so emphatically.
“The appointment system is poorly managed.
“Many centres do not have a list of the patients who are due to attend on any given day.
“This makes planning the use of open vials in the final hours of a clinic difficult or even impossible.
“The delivery of the vaccine is controlled by a Patient Group Direction (PGD). This prevents nursing staff from delivering vaccines to anyone outwith the patient group.
“If there are excess vaccines at the end of a session then only a registrant e.g. a doctor, dentist or possibly a specialist nurse can consent and vaccinate key workers who may attend or are contacted.
“If there are no registrants on site, then the excess vaccines will be discarded.
“The NHS staff at the vaccine centres are all dedicated professionals who treat the vaccine like liquid gold.
“However, they are often asked to work, it seems, with one hand tied behind their back.”
A spokesperson for NHS Lanarkshire said:“Neither the member of staff or Margaret Mitchell MSP have raised these concerns directly with us and we would encourage them to get in contact so we can provide reassurance on our wastage
NHS Lanarkshire say no-one contacted them about the claims regarding Whitehill. Margaret Mitchell, pictured right, referred to the alleged vaccine waste in the Scottish Parliament protocol and process for staffing vaccination centres.
“This is the largest ever vaccination programme NHS Lanarkshire has ever undertaken and our staff are working tirelessly to assist with the national drive to vaccinate as many people as quickly and as safely as possible.”