Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the use of Gillick competence for vaccinations in schools.

The Gillick competence is a guideline used to determine whether children can provide informed consent based on their level of intelligence, knowledge, and competence. In schools, where requests for parental consent haven’t been responded to, vaccinators may ask for the child’s parents’ contact details to seek oral consent over the phone. For young people, and children in secondary school settings who may be offered the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine alongside other school aged vaccinations, after every attempt to gain parental consent has been exhausted, the School Aged Immunisation Service team may make a clinical decision to give the vaccination using the Gillick competence framework. This allows a child to consent to their own treatment where appropriate, and when they are competent to do so.

The Green Book Chapter two, Information for public health professionals on immunisation, provides guidance on seeking consent for vaccination, including the use of the Gillick competence. Obtaining consent to treatment and assessing the adequacy of the use of the Gillick competence in schools is the responsibility of each service provider.