Hi, I wondered about experiences of anyone else who falls in the moderate risk group & how you have dealt with this re work?
I'm referring to those who have asthma but not at a level that requires shielding. Im in this category and as the government advice is 'be stringent' with social distancing, but that EVERYONE should be social distancing (eg the 2m rules and not socialising), it feels like the advice is basically the same as the general population - do the same, but be more careful you don't break the rules?
I work in a public facing role and there is no difference to the work I'm required to do compared to anyone else, because on the whole we're reducing public contact where we can (eg phone appointments if things aren't urgent)
I don't know anyone else with asthma so I'm not sure whether this is a sensible approach or not. I wondered how others are dealing with it.
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Jeesey
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The general advice for moderate risk is that you should be working from home unless you really really can’t. (Everyone else has the same advice true but it should be more rigorously followed for moderates).
My family have been in the same position as yourself.
My husband who is a mild/moderate asthmatic (also has a learning disability) works in a large supermarket. His commute to work involves 2 trains and a bus.
Since the lockdown, we decided as a family we weren’t prepared to take the risk with my husband’s health.
Our battle with his employer cane to an end yesterday with the outcome being ‘authorised paid absence’.
Initially, his employer said he can take unpaid leave until we provided medical evidence.
The GP, surgery, whom I had multiple conversations with said they could not provide a fit note (because my husband was not sick) and couldn’t be added to the ‘SPL’ (shielded patient list) because his asthma is not severe.
In the end we opted to pay £50 for a brief summary of my husbands health but they could not write anything like ‘unable to work or clinically vulnerable’.
Armed with a letter confirming an asthma diagnosis, along with a hospital letter from the time of diagnosis and a covering letter justifying his absence from work. In the covering letter I cited and referenced the government’s guidance (social distancing - section 8) and the NHS website (who’s at higher risk).
After a week my husbands employer called and said the evidence we had provided was not enough because it didn’t say the words ‘clinically vulnerable’ or ‘unable to work’, it wouldn’t be accepted to authorise his absence.
After this conversation, my husband was sent the company policy for ‘clinically vulnerable employees’. Within this policy it stated ‘emplyees need to verify they have an underlying health condition that means they are ‘clinically vulnerable’ as defined by the NHS’. Underneath was the procedure employees needed to follow to inform them of this, followed by an email address for personnel. Needless to say, i followed the procedure and fired the email off straight away.
My husband called back the next day and spoke to the department manager. He said the same things as the line manger the previous day but also kept using the term ‘extremely clinically vulnerable’, to which my husband had to keep pointing out he was not in this group.
Yesterday morning, my husbands line manger called again saying he sought further clarification and it turns out the medical evidence we sent in WAS INDEED ENOUGH!
7 weeks of absolute hell, not knowing how we were going to survive financially but we got there in the end.
Persistence is crucial.
I would suggest you ask for a copy of ‘company policy’ for ‘clinically vulnerable employees’ as a starting point. Depending on what the policy says, that will dictate your next move.
I would be happy to remove all sensitive data and post the covering letter if it helps.
Hang in there, do what is right for you and hopefully you shall have a favourable outcome.
Sorry to but in .my query may not be based on asthma but I wondered if you could help before Covid I was diagnosed with a condition which affects my health in the form of growths around my body I was on a referral list for surgery however until I have surgery I don’t know wether this would affect my chest cavity as they can’t tell me until I’ve had the surgery if it affects my chest but like you at current present I’m not seen as risk if you understand what I mean But I’m due to start back work 1st June I’m slightly worried as without surgery I don’t know if I’m at risk or not till then it was all under investigation do you have any suggestions on what to tell my employer I was also having investigation if I have asthma but I just don’t know yet I probably will have trouble getting any kind of evidence to say I may be at risk as it’s still on going x
I would get in touch with your hospital consultant (or their team) in the 1st instance to get their advice.
It pains me to say it (because of my recent experience) but also get in touch with your GP and ask them to advise you.
If you're still in doubt, give NHS 111 a ring. I got through to a really helpful lady who offered more advice than the GP!
Have you had conversation with your employer to discuss your situation?
It's really tough because you haven't actually been diagnosed with Asthma. I mentioned to my husband that we were lucky (or not, no-one wants to be diagnosed with anything) he got his diagnosis when he did.
Thankyou for your kind reply it’s helped me a lot I’ve not spoke to my employer yet but was off for 5 months for sickness before Covid -19 and signed a contract for reduce hours I have all medical notes for that and they know I need surgery but as investigations are on going and my employer Dosent understand the illness much I’ve tried to educate and tell them but I’m finding difficult as my illness is not spoken about much I haven’t had full investigation as I only had an ecg test and bloods cause was having trouble breathing. X
In that case, I would suggest you write to your employer. A cover letter and any medical evidence you can gather to try and justify further absence from work. You certainly need to highlight the fact that you were still under medical investigation before the pandemic. This is quite important as currently you don’t fit into any of the vulnerable groups because you don’t have a diagnosis.
Once your employer has all the information, it will be up to them to make the decision. At the end of the day, if your employer has been made aware of your personal circumstances but still ask you to come to work, they will need to make sure they assessed the risk properly, should you contract the virus at work.
Thanks everyone. We have a policy for those who are shielded but not clinically vulnerable, other than 'follow social distancing and work from home if your role allows it'
The advice bothers me because I would think that advice should be based on a health need not the job role - I'm not sure why if you're an accountant it's serious enough for you to work at home, but say if you work in a shop it's somehow safe for you to be in work.
It's not possible in my job for my colleagues to cover face to face stuff if it comes up as that's the emergency stuff (or at least it wouldn't be without substantial changes to the role). Once we start a piece of work that's ours for years, and some of it we can do on the phone but a lot we can't. I'm fortunate that I drive so I'm not relying on public transport.
I'll ask again about policy or risk assessments though so far all we've got is what I mentioned above, WFH where you can and distance where you can, just like everyone else.
Day to day I'm healthy and my asthma is well controlled, so it's hard to tell if I'm being overly worried or potentially martyring myself!
Hi. Just spoken with my doctor today about this as currently furloughed but a chance I may have to return within next few weeks. I work in public facing role also. Basically told as long as employer can confirm that strict social distancing can be in place and relevent ppe used, I could go back but if this was not the case for 100% of time in work, then he wouldn't be prepared to let me return, I would be issued with a not fit to return note and then go onto ssp. Don't know if he would use this criteria for all high risk patients or the fact I was in hospital over xmas on oxygen, steriods and high dose antibiotics and it took six to eight weeks before I felt anyway normal. Worth speaking with employer/doctor
I am in the same position as a vulnerable person due to my asthma. I work for an agency( doing Teaching assistant and nursery nurse) who has furloughed me but its probably will end soon due to schools and nurseries re opening. The advice from the government is to do a job away from children or decided to be with children. Now I have to make the decision to whether I go back. As a temp I could be in lots of different settings. I am going to ask for long term position if possible to reduce my exposure.
That's interesting. I think I'll give my GP a call and see if I can speak to someone for advice. My job involves working with disadvantaged families and it's very relationship based, so if I'm in work people will contact me and it's not really feasible to get someone else to respond. I have been doing a lot by phone but have been doing some community visits and it's likely there will be more.
I haven't had any contact with my GP as I haven't needed to so far, but I'll at least ask their advice then I can discuss sign my employer.
It's frustrating that the advice is so wooly. My company has been good at supporting those who are shielded because it's very clear cut - if they can't come into work that's that. But if I can come into the office occasionally (on the occasions my job cant be done at home) then it's hard to argue that I cant do the odd home visit or drop off the odd food parcel, and once I do those things gradually they just increase.... Argh!
I'll see if I can get advice from the GP and go from there.
I'm very lucky that my work can be done at home, on the whole, and my employee sent me home to work even before the guidance. I have no intention of going back any time soon, ideally I'll wait for a vaccine. Good luck!
People who have asthma are considered to be disabled by virtue of the Equality Act 2010 if the condition is chronic and affects daily life. As such, they are entitled to an occupational health assessment of the workplace, taking into account their asthma and the risks posed by Covid-19 in respect of their usual duties. The assessment is carried out by a trained practitioner.
The assessment will make recommendations of reasonable adjustments to the workplace or duties that will minimise the risks to the individual. Reasonable adjustments can be a change in duties, partial change of duties, working from home and so on.
The occupational health assessment is different to a general workplace risk assessment that assesses risks posed to everyone.
Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regs are the main plank of legislation that protects people at work, but these are enhanced by the Equality Act 2010.
Most large employers are making adjustments for their vulnerable staff without individual occupational health assessment. Unfortunately, not every employer has access to occupational health facilities so in those cases the employee (not the employer) can access the government scheme Access to Work.
I am also an at risk asthmatic but app as it’s managed well I don’t get a shielding letter so I have worked all through the lockdown as a keyworker in a busy mail centre .I just practice social distancing and keep up with my meds ,peak flow etc .Fortunately my shift manager has applied social distancing rules within the workplace and is always reviewing things .They also supply you with PPE if asked but it is also your own responsibility to stay alert and use common sense .i take packup which I eat in my car rather than sit in the canteen etc too and try to limit the time I’m in the busier areas .You do need to talk to your employer too though and make it clear that you are at risk as an asthmatic and talk your worries through with them
I wish the advice for asthmatics was better. The problem for many is that condition is not always constant, but when in an episode it can be very debilitating. If like me viruses can exacerbate symptoms it does make you very nervous. Wish caution was coming through from NHS in these circumstances.
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