Nurse shortage heightens TB risk

Up to 4,000 children are being denied vaccines against tuberculosis because there are not enough nurses to give the injections.

The Evening Standard has learned that the backlog is so serious that health chiefs want a private clinic to help carry out the work.

The move comes amid claims that the Government's immunisation programme is in disarray.

Rates of TB are soaring in London, with cases occurring in every borough. Nearly 3,000 people in the capital caught the disease last year, almost double the number of 15 years ago.

All children in Britain receive the BCG vaccination which protects against the disease although most are injected at the age of 13.

Those considered at particular risk because a parent or close relative has the illness are supposed to be vaccinated as babies. However, boroughs are struggling to keep pace with the spiralling number of infants being exposed to the disease. Jeremy Burden, director of primary healthcare at Greenwich Primary Care Trust, said: "We have a very significant backlog.

"The problem is that there are not enough nurses to deal with all the babies that need the injections. We tried to get GP surgeries to help, and offered to reimburse them for taking on some of the cases, but it didn't work." The risk of contracting TB in the area has become so serious that the trust is getting in touch with about 50 parents a week urging them to have their babies vaccinated. It is in talks with the private Direct Health 2000 clinic to help tackle the backlog by carrying out up to 4,000 injections. The trust is also doubling the size of the vaccination team from four nurses to eight. TB blackspots in the borough are Plumstead, Woolwich and Thamesmead.

Mr Burden said: "Tuberculosis is a particular problem in our area because we have a very mobile population, with a high number of refugees and asylum seekers. The problem is being compounded because so many people fail to turn up for their appointments."

Other boroughs with high TB rates admit they have also struggled to keep pace with demand.

Newham Primary Care Trust had 228 cases of TB last year, the second-highest rate in London after Ealing.

A spokesman said: "We have had a backlog in the past but we have dealt with it."

Direct Health 2000 would not comment on the negotiations with the Greenwich health trust.

But the clinic's director, Sarah Dean, claimed the Government's vaccination programme is "worse than a shambles".