The Tories’ bungled reorganisation of the NHS has contributed to a decline in pre-school vaccinations, an official report has found.
Research by the National Audit Office found uptake of nearly all pre-school vaccinations in England has declined since 2012.
And it found the way healthcare professionals remind parents to vaccinate their children has become “inconsistent” since former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s botched NHS shake-up abolished Primary Care Trusts in 2013.
This year the World Health Organization withdrew the UK’s measles elimination status – awarded when a country has gone a year without a fresh case of the disease.
And in June Public Health England estimated that around 90,000 children in England (1 in 7) had not had both doses of MMR at the age of five.
Current levels of uptake of the second dose of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccination (MMR) are 86.4%, below the 95% recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to give herd immunity.
(Image: Daily Mirror)
But the Comptroller and Auditor General said misinformation spread by anti-vaccination activists was only a small part of the problem.
The survey found 95% of parents said they had confidence in vaccinations and only 3% had refused one or more vaccine.
And the report says: “There is evidence that the 2013 health system reorganisation in England resulted in fragmentation in the way the vaccination programme has been delivered.”
It adds: “Some parents have reported finding it difficult to access vaccination services due to the timing and availability of appointments.
“There are also communities which are “under-served” when it comes to healthcare, such as travellers, which may also affect their vaccination rates.”
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour ’s Shadow Health Secretary, said: “This report is a serious wake up call. Labour has long warned of falling vaccination rates.
“A decade of funding squeezes imposed on general practice, cuts to public health and falling health visitors numbers is putting children at risk of very serious illness.
“The health and wellbeing of children should be a priority for ministers.
As this report suggests, parents need consistent reminders and better access to vaccine appointments.
But the government also needs to properly fund services as a whole to help tackle this vital issue.”
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A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We are incredibly concerned by the decline of vaccination rates and are taking urgent action to reverse this.”
Dr Sarah Wollaston, Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, said: “The decline in vaccination rates for children in recent years is worrying as is the degree of variation.
“My Committee will be questioning the Department of Health and Social Care,
NHS England and Public Health England at a hearing in November to press them on their plans to protect children and their wider communities by improving the uptake of vaccinations.”
