IT blunder could leave 1m at risk from meningitis

MORE than a million people could be at risk from a deadly meningitis strain due to an NHS IT blunder, it has emerged.

A system designed to alert GPS when a patient should be invited for a vaccination was not switched on for years due to fears of “alert fatigue”.

It was introduced to help with the distribution of the vaccine MENACWY to combat the rise of lethal meningococcal meningitis (Menw). But its failure to activate is believed to have caused the deaths of young people, the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) said. Teenagers and young adults are most at risk, particularly those who left school year 13 in 2015, 2016 or 2017.

The alert system, designed by software provider EMIS, is crucial because data shows that only about 40 per cent of this cohort have taken up the vaccine.

MRF says the software was installed on GP systems at a default “inactive” setting. Seema Kennedy, a health minister, has confirmed “the protocol was not activated by default, but instructions were sent out for local activation”.

NHS Digital said the alert was enabled at the beginning of April this year.

One person known to have died because he was not invited to take the vaccine was 21-year-old Tim Mason, an apprentice electrical engineer, who contracted meningitis in March 2018.

Vinny Smith, the MRF chief executive, said: “It’s a tragedy for a young person to die from an illness that they should have been protected against through vaccination. It seems absurd to us that an emergency vaccination programme to protect young people against a lethal disease had systems in place that were switched off.

“It’s positive news from government that the alert has now been activated across England and that patients attending GP appointments opportunistically will now be made aware if they are eligible for the vaccine.

“It is vital that systems are improved so that this never happens again.”