During a recent clinic I was explaining vaccination schedules for babies to parents who weren’t originally from the UK. They were delighted and grateful. Not only were measles, mumps, polio, tetanus, diphtheria, rubella, and meningitis C preventable – but vaccination was free and organised conveniently by the NHS.

Such enthusiasm is, unfortunately, rare and should not be taken for granted among indigenous NHS patients. Vaccination rates, especially for the MMR vaccine, fell in the UK after Dr Andrew Wakefield claimed at a press conference that the vaccine could cause bowel disorders and, possibly, autism. He was one of the authors of an infamous paper on the possible links between MMR, autism and bowel illness published in The Lancet in 1998.