Elderly Scots ‘nearly miss jabs’ amid letter delays

HEALTH chiefs have been forced to apologise over a delay in sending out coronavirus vaccine letters – leaving Scots forced to call an emergency hotline.

Residents of the NHS Lothian area told how they failed to receive a letter notifying them of their jab appointment.

Instead, they were forced to call the NHS helpline – to be informed they had appointments booked but had not been alerted to these.

Yesterday, health board chiefs revealed there had been delays in getting letters to the 65-plus age group, but insisted this would be resolved in the coming days.

Last night, NHS Lothian said all over-60s should have been given an appointment before Monday.

One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, revealed she had called the helpline amid fears she had been missed off the vaccine list.

However, she was told that an appointment was in the system for her the following week – and a letter would be sent to confirm.

She said: ‘I phoned because I was concerned, and I am happy to have my appointment now. But, what if people don’t phone and they miss their appointment because the letter hasn’t been sent?’

Another woman, who is in the age 60-64 priority group, said she would likely have missed her appointment if not for the fact she was made aware of social media reports on the issue.

She told Edinburgh Live: ‘I learned through a relative who accesses Facebook that there has been a “problem” with vaccination invitation letters throughout NHS Lothian.

That post included a number to call. I rang it and discovered that my appointment had indeed been scheduled – for next Tuesday.’

Some said they discovered they were due to be vaccinated in a matter of days when they called the hotline. Labour MP Ian Murray said he had seen evidence of a ‘significant problem’ with vaccination letters in Edinburgh.

He added: ‘Yet again the Scottish Government denies there is a problem, when the reality is much different.

‘Many people have only learned of their appointments by calling the helpline and that is not good enough. It could go some way to explaining why Edinburgh is behind every other area in Scotland.

‘Rather than denials, ministers need to get a grip. It’s too important to get wrong.’

Asked about the reported problems with appointment letters during the coronavirus daily briefing yesterday, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: ‘At this point we’ve not identified any system problems, but we will continue to look and make sure that the vaccine management tool and the booking system are working well together, and that we’re getting that information out to people as quickly as we possibly can.

‘We are constantly discussing with Royal Mail to make sure the delivery schedules at their end are working well with us.’

Miss Freeman added: ‘I would wait, into the early part of next week, and if you haven’t had your blue envelope then phone the helpline.’

An NHS Lothian spokesman said: ‘Appointment letters are being distributed by a central system to patients.

‘We understand there has been a delay in sending out some appointment letters.

‘If you are over 60 and have not received an appointment by Monday, please call the national helpline.’

‘Simply not good enough’