Anti-Covid-19 vaccination in a Paris nursing home, January 7, 2021. -
CHINA NOUVELLE / SIPA
Criticized for the delay in vaccination against Covid-19 in nursing homes, the government would have relaxed the protocol for obtaining the consent of residents.
At least that's what several social media posts claim, relying on the screenshot of an email informing of the easing.
If the email is genuine, oral consent has always been sufficient since the start of the vaccination campaign.
20 Minutes
takes stock.
Has the government reviewed the consent process in force in nursing homes (accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people) in order to speed up the pace of the anti-Covid-19 vaccination campaign?
This is what several publications on social networks suggest, one of which, on Facebook, states: “Take two minutes to read this email sent [to] nursing home residents, we explain to them that [now] consent for vaccination is no longer compulsory in writing but valid orally, ie it will be impossible to verify the accuracy of the facts.
"
The Facebook post on consent in Ehpad.
- screenshot / Facebook
On the screenshot of the message in question, dated January 7, we can indeed read: "Given the difficulties encountered by families in obtaining written consent in the department and more widely in France, health authorities have decided to lighten the protocol surrounding vaccination.
Therefore, simple oral consent is now required.
"
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"This email does indeed come from our establishment", confirms the establishment in question to
20 Minutes
.
“Before the holidays and the launch of the vaccination campaign, we planned to distribute written consent forms for vaccination, using the standard form sent by the health authorities.
But it is complicated to obtain the written consent of residents, who often have comprehension problems, which explains this relaxation, the idea being to privilege the oral, during the pre-vaccination consultation provided by a doctor ”, details the establishment.
The email relayed on social networks was therefore sent to residents of the nursing home shortly after the latter received a document from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional health authority relating to "consent to vaccination ”that
20 Minutes
was able to consult and which indicates:“ The collection of consent is oral.
Consent is tracked in the SI Vaccine information system ”
However, contrary to what the message suggests the establishment, this directive is not new nationwide, as highlighted in
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Annabelle Vêques, director of the National Federation of school principals and services for the elderly (Fnadepa): “The national order has never been to obtain the written consent of the residents, it is obtained from the beginning orally.
"
"Ehpad can offer a written consent form if they wish and perhaps a few ARS have suggested to them but this is not at all what is indicated in the vaccination guide of the Ministry of Health", adds she does.
"It is not recommended to ask the resident himself to confirm his consent"
This document, which can be consulted online, clearly indicates the process to be followed: “As with any vaccination, a pre-vaccination consultation is compulsory for the prescription of the vaccine.
It is carried out within the establishment or by teleconsultation [and aims to] provide the necessary information (indications, contraindications, known side effects, benefit / risk, etc.) so that the person can express their choice of to be vaccinated or not.
"
If this guide recalls that the medical file of the vaccinated person must "specify, according to the most suitable methods, the methods of obtaining this consent (person himself or, in the event of inability to express consent, after consultation with 'a third party) ”, he also notes that“ it is not recommended, on the other hand, to ask the resident himself to confirm his consent in writing, in order to stay as close as possible to the applicable common law rules.
"
"Lots of conflicts on the subject of vaccination"
"Some establishments simply thought that it would be useful to ask for it, probably to protect themselves, because in some families of residents there is a lot of conflict on the subject of vaccination," said
Pascal Champvert, president of the
20 Minutes.
'Association of Directors in the Service of the Elderly (AD-PA).
Annabelle Vêques recalls for her part that "written consent has no more legal value than that obtained orally".
"The main thing is to ensure that the vaccinated person has been given fair, clear and appropriate information, this is the only proof required", adds the director of Fnadepa.
The vaccination guide further specifies that "the resident may revoke his consent - by any means, including verbal or non-verbal - after having given it initially, and this until the last moment before the injection of the vaccine" , the doctor having the obligation to respect his choice.
“We always try to find a compromise with families when a resident wants to be vaccinated but his relatives oppose it.
When their refusal is categorical, we do not vaccinate.
We do not aim to vaccinate in order to vaccinate, we try to manage things as well as possible in a crisis situation despite the government's infancy, ”concludes the nursing home at the origin of the e-mail taken on social networks.
Politics
Vaccination: No, a 58-page document is not given to residents of nursing homes, as Gérard Larcher maintains.
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