UK: REGISTER AS A VULNERABLE PERSON TO GET CORONAVIRUS SUPPORT

Actually, I meant to ask....

Once you go on this register what happens then? Does anyone know?

You give a phone number for call and texts. In my relatives case emails are out at the minute. They've not got a delivery account with a supermarket, on the grounds it did them good to get out .

Supposedly, it flags you for help, but I didn't see any clues as to what manner, shape or form that help would come in.

Mind you I'm that naffed off at this point it may well be I just didn't see something right in front of me.

 

@Invisible Woman
So far I’m receiving daily texts (as I mentioned over on the living with COVID-19 thread). Giving me self care tips etc.

At some point apparently I’m meant to get help with people bringing me groceries and medication. I heard also driving people to appointments.

Also the list of vulnerable people gets given to supermarkets so you get priority for deliveries. So far this has happened with only one supermarket, the others don’t seem to have me on their list yet.

Also this is the group that’s meant to follow certain rules like don’t open your door to anyone , everything has to be left on doorstep, shield for 12 weeks. I would be doing all of that anyway.

 

I have had no attempts at communication since I completed it.

Presumably they draw up a list, not sure how, and then the list is available to any organisation that requests it, and is approved.

The potential for abuse if not tightly controlled is 'significant' - but as far as the government is concerned they already know who and where I am - if they were to decide to round up people on the list 'for their own safety' then they could easily do that without the list.

 

@Invisible Woman sorry I might have misread your post. I thought you said what happens if you get put in the group. But I think you meant what happens after filing out the questionnaire. I don’t know answer to that question. A few of my friends have filled it out with no answer yet.

 

A lot of autistic people I know fear the government putting them on 'a list'. For this reason they refuse to have their autism 'flagged' on their medical notes. However, I've always taken the same view as you @Wonko - that the government already have enough records and information about me to know who and where I am should the 'round up' ever happen.

 

Oh part of me hates the idea, of 'volunteering', of making it so easy, but computers have been around for a while, and it would be a trivial job for anyone with full access to government records to compile such a list if they chose.

It took a couple of days, but the part of me that hates the idea was overruled.

I don't think this is going to be over in a few months, and despite constant assurances that everything's fine I am not seeing any evidence that I will be able to obtain food, even of limited range and choice, in a few months.

What I am seeing is that it has become harder (nothing to do with the actual amount of food in the shops - steps have been taken that currently severely limit my 'options') and that even when raised on the media no one is interested - that I, that we, simply don't exist as far as the world is concerned.

So my perfectly natural 'reluctance' was overruled - this is not the best time to be invisible.

Which is pretty much a reversal of what I would normally do, and causing a considerable amount of stress/anxiety.

 

Yes, lots of talk about 'the elderly and vulnerable' but nothing about the pre-existing 'housebound'. We were invisible before and we're invisible still.

 

From local council (only found out by going on their website),

For the extremely vulnerable, from next week, there’s a council helpline. Have to call that; and tell them the reference number from the top of my letter. Then they’ll tell me what day my food parcel will come. It will come from a council staff or a vetted volunteer who will carry ID. They will ask in advance where the parcel should be left. Tinned foods and non perishables at the moment

Medicines have to be arranged separately through local pharmacy.dont know what exactly that means.

Later on says, will supply food parcels; medicines and other essential services

 

I'm banking on being invisible when the forced vaccine appears, but of course, they'll see me then.

 

Pregnant women are listed. My information was that pregnant women didn´t get it in China, the information might be wrong though, can´t give any source.

 

I've seen nothing like this in Canada: the more detailed list of who is vulnerable like NHS has put out. Canadian public health has outlined in more general terms who is more vulnerable, but not getting as specific as the NGO, asthma.org.uk group. And, I haven't heard that governments here are sending out letters to the more vulnerable, and telling them to self-isolate for three months.

I think the three months idea is a good one, but adds to the stress for perhaps many. I've curtailed my infrequent outings. Even though I've been mostly house bound, and often couch and bed bound for 3 decades, the brief outings were a welcome break, even though they caused PEM.

Maybe off topic a bit here, but being told over and over that this is mostly dangerous for elders, and those with underlying conditions, is of course not reassuring for those of us in either, or both of these categories. It makes it sound like we're expendable. Like the weak of an elk herd that can be sacrificed to the wolves.

ETA: And, the repetition of "it's mostly just the old and sick who are affected", has been interpreted by the younger generations as immunity for them, so they continued to party. Now that governments here have cracked down on that, this has slowed down.

 

This narrative about it 'just being the elderly and those with underlying health conditions' dying is exactly what happened here in the UK. That has slowly begun to change since Monday this week, when more severe restrictions started being put in place and police powers of enforcement announced. The media have been picking up on stories of younger and healthier people dying (some from abroad) and as the number of deaths are rising people are starting to realise they could lose one of their own loved ones. People are now being shamed by the public for being out unnecessarily and supermarkets are now starting to put social distancing in place for customers and their staff. This is where we should have been 2-3 weeks ago at least.

I think the government list is aimed at those with severe respiratory problems, people who have compromised immune systems and those on high daily doses of steroid medication. The letter they send refers to having a greater chance of hospitalisation if the coronavirus is contracted, so I think this is a strategy to help stop hospitals from being overwhelmed. Due to the current lack of knowledge they may well have missed conditions that should have been included on this list. I read somewhere that they allowed GP discretion in whom they put forward for the list. Hospital and pharmacy records were also used to try to create the list, with lots of cross-referencing of these. So I suspect it was a mammoth task.

 

Regarding the government list, the public have been told that if they think they should have been included on the list and haven't had a letter by Sunday (we don't get post on Sunday in the UK) then they should directly contact their GP to discuss it. I have no idea what will happen to those who signed up to the list online, perhaps it will generate a letter to these people's GP to get them to examine their case (which can be done using the NHS number every citizen has).

Edit: I just worked out I read this information on Asthma UK.

 

I think that's why I prefer to be on this list as opposed to asking for help that may be delivered from one of the 600,000 volunteers that have signed up with the NHS, the people involved with this smaller scheme are more likely to be well vetted.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...es-qualify-someone-as-sufficiently-vulnerable

Article addressing the people falling through the cracks

 

It seems they are expecting GP’s to add a further 600,000 patients to the list that the algorithm didn’t pick up on

https://digital.nhs.uk/coronavirus/shielded-patient-list

 

Seems like Asthma UK have been inundated with concerned asthmatics, as they seem to have removed the table I used to work out that my steroid medication exceeds the threshold of what is moderate to what is severe asthma. Now the advice it that it is up to your clinician to decide if you have severe asthma. The new relevant wording is:

Link: https://www.asthma.org.uk/advice/triggers/coronavirus-covid-19/

 

That's really useful @lunarainbows
Thanks for the info. I'm struggling as I'm trying to find information for relatives who live in Greater London, no IT skills - he's hopeless and confusion & brain fog caused by her brain tumour means she's locked herself out of all her accounts.

She's in the 12 week isolation group, he's vulnerable and trying to get help and see what's available for someone in a different area with zero IT skills isn't easy.

 

If you can tell me what borough council they’re in (or PM me), I can try to find out more info. As there is info relevant to each council.

 

Will PM. Thanks @lunarainbows