Covid19 - Shielding and self-isolating for vulnerable people - policies and issues

lunarainbows said:
Just checking were either of these shops you mention @Hell..hath..no..fury... or @Wonko , from Sainsburys orders?

We’ve had a similar issue with Sainsburys. Sometimes half the shop is missing! However so far Ocado has been really good - telling us at checkout if something is not there, and I think we’ve only had a couple of substitutions, if that. We always got our eggs, (sometimes different brands), and staples etc.
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Tesco for me, it’s the only shop I have.
 
We've given up on Tesco since we couldn't get on their priority list and had to stay awake to book slots at midnight. We now only use Waitrose as they have agreed to put us on the priority list. They have been surprisingly good at providing most of what we order, and substitutions are usually sensible. The downside is you have to order at least £60 worth at a time.
 
While it sounds as if Liverpool CCG has done a good job, speaking as somebody living in Liverpool, it's bloody useless. We rang our GP to ask if I could be put on the vulnerable list as
1. I was over 70
2. OH is approaching 75
3. I have high rates for PIP of both Mobility and Care and I'm unable to leave the house on my own.

Told we'd have to get help from the council. They put the local group in touch so now we get a phone call from them once a week. They all seem to be very nice, but I'd rather they didn't bother.

Eventually OH managed to get on the Tesco vulnerable list. He's got a Tesco card, so I guess they could access his age from that? Plus they'll see he's been shopping with them since the year dot! I'll have to ask him if he's having more problems getting slots now. We had a delivery last Friday, I think we have one on Thursday this week, but no idea if he's got anything else booked.

As to Waitrose I'll never bloody touch the barstewards again. They just told me 3 times, in 3 emails spread over about 3 weeks, that they couldn't validate my age so they wouldn't take me on. It was the telling me 3 times that really got my goat.
 
ladycatlover said:
As to Waitrose I'll never bloody touch the barstewards again. They just told me 3 times, in 3 emails spread over about 3 weeks, that they couldn't validate my age so they wouldn't take me on. It was the telling me 3 times that really got my goat.
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If they really cared about their vulnerable customers there is a simple way they could do this via their website (if they paid for the additional service). I recently bought a set of knives and the company directed me to this site (after checkout with a bespoke link for me to complete):

https://www.agechecked.com/

It gave various options to verify my age. Weirdly trying both my driving license and my debit card didn't work, but they were able to do it from the electoral register (I'm not on the public version).
 
ladycatlover said:
Told we'd have to get help from the council. They put the local group in touch so now we get a phone call from them once a week. They all seem to be very nice, but I'd rather they didn't bother.
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Just tell them not to. That’s the same weekly call I was getting, with no caller ID who would ring multiple times until I answered it leaving me no choice.

I politely told them to leave me alone and they did thank God, otherwise I would have been changing my number.
 
Trish said:
We've given up on Tesco since we couldn't get on their priority list and had to stay awake to book slots at midnight. We now only use Waitrose as they have agreed to put us on the priority list. They have been surprisingly good at providing most of what we order, and substitutions are usually sensible. The downside is you have to order at least £60 worth at a time.
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Did they give a reason why you couldn’t be prioritised? :banghead:

If Tesco hadn’t accepted me I wouldn’t have had any priority slots anywhere.
 
Tescos was the last, by several weeks, to put me on their priority list.

I have only had, I think, 2 deliveries from them, the last of which was last Friday, so based on that it would seem that they are likely to have put me on their list 5 weeks ago - so mid May?

Two months after lockdown started, or thereabouts.

I did not interact with them at all, it was solely on the basis of being on the government list.
 
Just got a message from my (US) health insurance plan, an HMO, which asked me to make an appointment to COME IN in person for a lengthy wellness exam, which in my case is pretty much unnecessary and is not required. Suddenly it's business ($) as usual. The business of health care in this foolish country.

The message was sent to all medicare (over age 65) folks with the plan. The letter made me mad. I am high risk becaue of age, and our positive covid-19 cases are climbing, and here a huge medical organization is pushing me into coming in for a long (an hour) in-person visit. Oh, they do temperature checks on their employees who also wear masks. Big f-ing deal. Asymptomatic cases are not going to be caught out by a temperature check. Masks don't protect well when you are four feet away and talking. And the issue of aerosol spread has not been fully elucidated.

I am going to have at least words with the author of the letter and their superior. I know my risk/benefit ratio of doing preventive care vs getting the virus. My preventive care can wait. But other seniors who are not as medically savy will just feel coerced.

The letter urged them to make the apointment now so they don't have to come in during the flu season (veiled threat). This wellness appointment is heavily reimbursed by the US government to the insurance company, so that is one reason why they are pushing it.

The nerve and the incompetence and the greed.
 
Hang on, 1 in 1700 means there’s around 38,000 people with the virus right now (taking into account the 66 mil population of U.K.) according to the Guardian article? That’s a lot of people with coronavirus.
 
How many people are there in the average Tescos at any one time? How many pass through the store in one hour? It's impossible to socially distance in these sort of places and with the general public becoming more and more lax with this, things are going to get worse for previously 'shielded' people who are going to be forced back to work, shopping in store etc.

Today I had someone call from the organisation the Local Authority has commissioned to check that the shielded people in this area are getting all the support they need. She did stay about 2 metres away, but wasn't wearing a face covering (contrast that to the boiler repair man who called today and was wearing an N95 mask). What was really disconcerting was that she was coughing violently all the way back up my drive to her car!
 
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I have been able to get fortnightly timed slots from tesco last few weeks as the priority ones could clash with me eating brek or supper after carer had been or while she was sorting my meal so a timed one is easier for me to manage. I got on priority list by phoning them Up. have to remember to keep checking so can order the next one.
 
Has anyone had an eye test recently? Spec savers now do home visits but the Outside Clinic dont (edited, they are open now too). I need to have my eyes tested - Worried if I leave it, coronavirus will get worse in winter & then I won’t be able to until next spring/summer which is too late.

If you’ve had your eyes tested recently, what masks do they wear? N99 or surgical masks? They come up so close to you when doing eye tests & to shine the light in your eyes and examine, touch your eyes etc.

Also, what about nurses who come to take bloods?
 
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lunarainbows said:
Also, what about nurses who come to take bloods?
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Here in Scotland, my grandson was sick, not coronavirus. His mother spoke to the GP who then requested blood tests from the usual central computer system. She phoned the designated blood collection hub and we were given an appointment. My husband took him there and the nurse was in full protective gear. She checked what the doctor had requested and took blood.

GP phoned a few days later with results and we have been told to make another appointment there for repeat bloods to be taken at the start of July.

It was a very straightforward, safe procedure. He is in a vulnerable group.

edit just realised you are talking about nurses coming to your home, sorry. I would think they would be in protective gear, the NHS is taking it very seriously and the nurse won't want to get anything from you either:)
 
GPs will be asked to rewrite Covid-19 shielding list using new risk score
22 June 2020 By Sofia Lind

GPs and specialists will be asked to rewrite the Covid-19 shielding patient list based on a new risk prediction tool being developed by the University of Oxford and NHS Digital.

The news comes as the Government has announced that people in England can quit shielding from 1 August as virus transmission in the community has decliend to safe enough levels, however the shielding list will be retained and updated for the event of a new virus spike, in which case the shielding programme will be reactivated.

Researchers said their new model, which has been commissioned by the chief medical officer for England, would support GPs and specialists in their consultations with patients to provide more targeted advice based on individual levels of risk.

They are in the process of analysing the anonymised health records of 8m UK adults through the University of Oxford's QResearch database to identify factors that can be used to predict who will have the highest risk of serious illness or death from Covid-19, including age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, smoking status, body mass index, pre-existing medical conditions and current medications.

The algorithms from this data analysis will then be developed with data experts at NHS Digital to create a clinical risk prediction model that can be applied by doctors including GPs, the researchers said, in conjunction with 'discussions on how to reduce risk'.

It will also allow for mathematical modelling to inform national public health policies in shielding and infection prevention, as well as helping to determine who should be first in line for a potential Covid-19 vaccine.

Principal investigator Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox, professor of epidemiology and general practice at Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences said: ‘Driven by real patient data, this risk assessment tool could enable a more sophisticated approach to identifying and managing those most at risk of infection and more serious Covid-19 disease.

'Importantly, it will provide better information for GPs to identify and verify individuals in the community who, in consultation with their doctor, may take steps to reduce their risk, or may be advised to shield.’ 

Chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty, said: ‘The level of threat posed by Covid-19 varies across the population, and as more is learned about the disease and the risk factors involved, we can start to make risk assessment more nuanced.

'When developed, this risk prediction tool will improve our ability to target shielding, if it is needed, to those most at risk.’ 

Speaking in this evenings coronavirus briefing, deputy chief medical officer for England Dr Jenny Harries said the changes to the shielding list comes as 'new evidence is telling us that the risks for individuals are often more clearly due to a combination of factors in that individual, such as age, ethnicity, obesity levels for example, as well as the medical conditions that they have'.

She said: 'The chief medical officer has commissioned work to ensure that should we need to step up the shielding programme again, we would have available a much more individualised way for you and your doctor to be able to understand your risk, and to receive more tailored advice.'

She also reiterated that the overhaul of the shielding list was likely to see the removal of the vast majority of children, including any child whose health condition is currently managed in primary care.

She said: 'As evidence has evolved we've seen that admission to hospital for all children under 18 years old with COVID-19 is very low indeed. Only 36 children in the UK have been admitted to intensive care.'

Dr Harries added that 'there is a group of children that exists who due to their underlying conditions may need to continue to shield' but said that 'over the summer parents can look forward to discussions through routine paediatric appointments'.

In the interim, she said 'we will be talking with your doctors and all royal colleges to ensure everyone has the right information'.

'So for now, there is no need for parents to speak to their doctor immediately. And we will sort that information out in due course for anybody with underlying clinical conditions whether adult or child.'

It comes as the Government said earlier this month that it was working on a ‘better’ risk algorithm for patients shielding from coronavirus, which may see 90,000 children removed.
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http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/clinica...ng-list-using-new-risk-score/20041048.article

Since the most vulnerable people have been shielding (including those not on the official list) how can they possibly know their predicted risk as surely the current statistics exclude a lot of these people?
 
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