Hi,
I live in Scotland and received my initial shielding letter dated 24th April which stated "at least 12 weeks from today" According to my calculations that means at least 20th July.
I received a second letter which states "until at least 8th June"
I'm confused.
Has anyone else had similar mixed messages in their shielding letter?
I haven't received a shielding letter personally, but know you're not alone in the confusion re when the period starts and ends! Especially as everyone has received their letters at different points. There's a bit of a discussion in this post that may help: healthunlocked.com/asthmauk...
People in the sheilding group have received letters that start & end on different dates. I'm pretty sure that this initial period is flexible and may be extended, if the current rates of infection are anything to go by.
Personally, I think that 12 weeks was optimistic but was probably psychologically more acceptable to recipients than 6 months.
As lock down is eased it will depend on the way the number of new infections etc are affected as to whether or not the shielding advice will be relaxed or tightened up.
I think you can confidently use the sheilding letter with the July end date.
Yes confusion reigns. My NHS texts state 30 June, my letter would be until 3rd July.
I would be working in a frontline essential role but obvs advised not to do so.
My employers are accepting the guidance.
That said today I got a call from them and they said they were confused by the PMs statement
But they would wait for the 50 page document guidelines. They said they don’t expect me to return anytime soon.
It would nonsensical for me to be most vulnerable one day and then back to work before far healthier people.
So I expect to go by my NHS guidance letter, unless everyone shielding is told that no longer is the case.
Presently it seems more likely to be extended than shortened.
So it’s wait and see I guess...
yesterday's statement on returning to work has no bearing on the shielding group.
public health england are still advising to shield until the end of june. when there's anymore information, i would hope it would be updated on the gov.uk website.
there's going to be more news today, but realistically the shielders coming out will be in the last stages otherwise we'll overwhelm the hospitals
gov.uk/government/publicati...
Hi, thanks so much for your reply. Yes I feel the same.
It is disconcerting when such broad announcements are made. It becomes even more so when employers are confused.
As u say we should be more informed this afternoon, and yes I agree with the likely scenario for shielders.
Keep Safe.
Yes I read a newspaoer article which said they had written to GPs and us but got it wrong so had to write to GPs and us again. This involved thousands of letters. My GP phoned to say she got a request for information about my health and she told me what she'd written. Its all so confusing
The 12 weeks restarts from the second letter, person I am informal carer for got 2nd letter 1st May, he contacted GP who told him had to restart the 12 weeks.
Honestly I wouldn't necessarily go with what a GP says as gospel. Some are great but some have been telling people it's not anything to do with them giving out shielding letters so 🤷.
Until the government makes specific announcements, nothing changes. With shielding or anything else. Anything in the media is probably not true either unless it's literally facts/government quotes. So the official stuff for England said "at least 12 weeks from the date of the letter". First letters that takes people to 15th June. I imagine it will be extended but who knows at the moment.
this link says 18th june, for the scots. End of june for NHS England
nhsinform.scot/illnesses-an...
if today's newspapers are anything to go by i could quite easily see scotland continuing to give different advice as to what to do which will make it even more confusing,
I would go with the July date. May I ask if you got a call from your Doctor to tell you you were shielding? The reason I ask is because on April 16th I was told by my Doctor that I should be shielding, but I've yet to receive my letter. I'm in E.K. I was just wondering how long it was between the phone call and the letter arriving.
Cheers.
Thanks for all your relies.
I think that I'm possibly even more confused now.
Personally I think that July is optimistic, although I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I had seen the 18th June as a date for Scotland which adds to the confusion.
The second letter did not reset the 12 weeks, it was not a duplicate, but a new letter which stated 8th June. According to my maths that is only 11 weeks after the shielding was announced on 23rd March.
Perhaps it is down to language. If the letters and website said 12 weeks from the day of the letter or something similar, I would have then something firm to go on.
Jimmy-Lyden
I received the letter on the 28th and had a follow up call from the practice on the 29th, with a call from the doctor that evening.
The second letter was from my GP surgery and is the one that caused the most confusion.
Thanks again for your input
T he click started ticking on the 12 weeks shielding on Monday 23 March regardless of the date on your letter
The letter date and 12 weeks is irrelevant.
In England, people are asked to shield until at least the end of June. For some, the end of June will be more than 12 weeks since they received the letter, for others it’ll be less.
At some point the government will update the guidance and (I guess) either blanket extend everyone who has had a letter or send new letters out and only extend selected people.
My feeling is not everyone is going to have their shielding extended.
I’m not sure if Scotland is different, but I know Boris seems to have suggested in England all shielders will remain so until the end of June (regardless of when they got sent the letter), and then they’ll reassess the situation and let us know the plan going further (I think they plan to start reviewing at the beginning of June so they have an answer by the end of June but I may be lying 😅).
I hope this helps
the end of june date is stated on the official shielding guidelines. in case anyone needs it as proof for their employers then it's below.
gov.uk/government/publicati...
Scotland are anticipating giving different information in June. If you are resident in Scotland, you are advised to follow devolved information. (Gov UK information is relevant to England.)
I spoke to a GP yesterday. I was told that all letters have different days but the end date is being reviewed in June. He says to get information from NHSinform* as England are pushing ahead of where Scotland feels is safe, so ignore information from England.
He did not confirm anything, but it sounded as though he suspects shielding will go on longer than June in Scotland.
*Personally, I use Scotgov too.
My letter is for 18th June, but work expect me back on the 11th. UK guidance is until the end of June i think? Scotland will likely be different though. I think they'll keep extending it though, until it is safe, and until then you have to stick with government guidance not what the letter says? Everyone shielding will be released at the same time it's unlikely that they'll release certain people out on certain days.
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