BLF Message

Message from the British Lung Foundation (8 June 2020):

We’ve been urgently trying to find out more information about the text messages many people with lung conditions received out of the blue, telling them they would no longer have access to shielding support.

We now understand that these texts are legitimate, and not spam or sent in error as some people thought. We have been told that everyone who got one of these texts has been removed from the shielding list and has been taken off personally either by a hospital or a GP. This would mean that if GPs don't know about it, a hospital consultant could have done the removal.

The texts were telling people that the shielding support they had registered for, such as food parcels, would stop. Unfortunately, for many people this text was the first they heard about being taken off the shielding list. There should have been communication from a GP or hospital first, and something has clearly gone wrong in the sequencing of these conversations and automated texts.

We don’t know the exact numbers of people with lung conditions who have been removed from shielding, but we believe this has happened in England only. We have asked the NHS for the logic behind these decisions to remove some people from the list, but we have not had an answer yet.

If you’ve not had one of these texts, which should be the vast majority of people with lung conditions who are shielding, then you should continue to follow the stay-at-home guidance until the end of June. We know the government have suggested it is likely that shielding will continue beyond this date - we will share an update when information is released on this.

If you have received one of these texts, we’d encourage you to speak to you GP or hospital clinician. If this is likely to cause problems getting help, there are a few sources of support you can contact:
-The NHS Volunteer Responders scheme is now open to self-referrals and may be able to assist with shopping and prescription collections: https://volunteering.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/…/isolati…
-Your local council or the mutual aid network can also offer assistance: https://covidmutualaid.org/local-groups
-If this may cause employment issues, we’d suggest approaching your employer directly to discuss your needs. This ACAS advice for employees who want to shield/work from home may be useful: www.acas.org.uk/coronavirus/vulnerable-people-and-high-risk

We’ll continue to seek information on this issue and push for the right people to be contacted and supported during shielding.
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