Man accidentally invited for Covid vaccine because NHS believed he was just 6cm tall

PA

A man in his thirties with no underlying health conditions was accidentally offered a Covid vaccination because he was incorrectly registered as 6cm tall.

Liam Thorp, 32, was surprised to receive a text telling him he had been offered an appointment for his first jab.

Mr Thorp, a journalist at the Liverpool Echo, decided to give his GP a call and find out if there had been a mix-up.

They informed him he had been invited for the vaccine due to his weight, which they had registered as amounting to morbid obesity.

The journalist, who was under the impression this information was inaccurate, was left confused.

His doctor's surgery called back the next day to confirm there had been a mix-up. Mr Thorp said the phone call was one of the most "bizarre phone calls of [his] life".

Recalling the conversation in an article for the Liverpool Echo, he wrote: "A nervous sounding chap on the line began quietly explaining to me that there had been a mix-up in offering me a vaccine.

Mr Thorp added: ”He said, unfortunately, my details had been put into the system incorrectly when I had registered with the GP just a year ago.

"He was really polite and very apologetic but said I was in fact not due to get my vaccine anytime soon."

Mr Thorp was curious to know more about the error.

He wrote: ”The man from the surgery took a sharp intake of breath and tried to remain composed as he informed me that rather than having my height registered as six foot two, it had been put into the system as 6.2 centimetres.

"I'm not sure how he kept it together when he told me that this, combined with my weight, had given me a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 28,000."

He explained: "For reference, a BMI of 40 or more is considered morbidly obese - so I'm not sure what this would have made me.

"If I had been less stunned, I would have asked why no one was more concerned that a man of these remarkable dimensions was slithering around south Liverpool.

"But he was very apologetic and really nice and I think he was just relieved that I found it so funny.”

Mr Thorp, following the blunder, contacted his local Clinical Commissioning Group to ask what people should do if they think they might have been wrongly invited for a vaccine.

Dr Fiona Lemmens, chair of Liverpool CCG said: "I can see the funny side of this story but also recognise there is an important issue for us to address.

“There are millions of GP appointments taking place every day and while we take care to make sure records are accurate occasional data errors do occur.

"We are grateful to Liam for his honesty and for alerting his GP practice when he received his vaccination invitation.

“We would encourage anyone who has received a text invitation that they think they are not eligible for at this stage, to contact their GP practice to clarify.

“This will help ensure that more vulnerable people get vaccinated first.”

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