A Scottish man with type 1 diabetes has slammed health bosses after he claims it is “impossible” to book in for a flu jab this year.
Daniel Scottow, 39, has had diabetes since he was seven and is becoming increasingly frustrated at trying to claim his free flu vaccine, which all people with diabetes are entitled to.
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He said he has unable to get through on the dedicated helpline which has been set up so people can book their vaccine.
Speaking to local newspaper, The Courier, he said: “Most of the time I get a recorded message saying they are unable to take my call. A few times I’ve got through to the queuing system and then after sitting in the queue for 10 minutes it goes dead.”
Last week NHS Fife apologised and vowed to improve its flu jab programme after the booking system was flooded with 71,000 calls in two days.
At a meeting of Fife’s Health and Social Care Integrated Joint Board (IJB) meeting, Dona Milne, director of public health, said: “We have taken a significant amount of people on board to help with the issue and we have people working through the backlog. We’ve got extra resources to answer phones, emails and text messages.”
Meanwhile, Daniel said he is still struggling to book his flu vaccine and is starting to worry about his health.
He said; “I’ve been diabetic since I was seven years old and since I was a kid I’ve been told it’s imperative to get a flu jab every year.
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“I get that times are far from normal and that the NHS is under a lot pressure but this a very important thing for anyone with health problems and who are at high risk. You’ve got the fear you could get Covid and the added fear of seasonal flu.”
The Scottish Government has told health boards they must act “swiftly” to combat ongoing issues surrounding the booking of flu jabs.
