Told to shield for 12 weeks with a heart failure diagnosis but not on the government list.

[Bletchleygirl2]

Has anyone been told to shield for 12 weeks with heart failure diagnosis by their heart failure nurse?

[Bletchleygirl2]

Mine told me more than 6 weeks ago and she said she would call in a month and maybe increase Entresto but no call even though I left a message on their number.

[Hidden]

If you’re told by a medical professional you should be shielding and you don’t meet any of the six ‘automatic criteria’ (which the vast majority of cardiac patients don’t), either the professional advising you to shield or your GP can add you to the database being maintained for the government. There’s a misconception amongst patients and the public generally that the database will somehow have everyone appropriate on, and that just isn’t the case because the automatic criteria aren’t exhaustive in the slightest, and it’s reliant on patients being correctly flagged, more often than not by their GP. It’s not applicable to you, but this is particularly relevant where a patient has individual conditions that don’t warrant shielding on their own, but in combination make them extremely vulnerable.

My advice would be to contact your GP, tell them you’ve been told to shield, and that you therefore need to be added to the database so you can access the support that’s available to shielders. As long as they agree there’s a clinical need, they should do it without question. You can also register on the government portal for extremely vulnerable people yourself: it explicitly states to register on the site if ‘you’ve been told by your GP or hospital clinician that you’re clinically extremely vulnerable and need to ‘shield’:

gov.uk/coronavirus-extremel...

The reason I’m suggesting going through the GP first is purely because I suspect that will be a quicker route than going through the portal, although demand via the website should be lower now than it was a few weeks ago.

Hope that helps.

[Bletchleygirl2 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, I did as you said and contacted the GP then got a letter saying that I didn't meet the criteria to be put on the database. So sounds like I'm on my own. I will carry on for the last three and a half weeks and then will venture to the supermarket if I can't get a delivery.

[bantam12 in reply to Bletchleygirl2]

I was told to shield, 3 letters from NHS, hospital and GP, and 2 phone calls from NHS and GP, I registered on the gov database and have heard nothing since, not been offered any delivery slots or food boxes so it's not working anyway, as it happens I am managing without help and going to the shops myself so there was no point in me registering !

[Love100cats]

I was told right at the start and have followed the advice of the heart failure nurses. So I have completed 8 weeks in isolation living on my own. My home help got another job so have no one coming in other than my son once a week and he keeps the distance! But I was having problems with food shopping. I couldn't get a slot! I tried the recommended method of registering but was told I wasn't on the list. I checked the Gov.org list and lo and behold heart failure is not one of the reasons for isolation. That's why I didn't get a Gov. letter. So I sent a message to Tesco customer services saying that I was out of food, fridge empty and getting desperate. The next day I tried again and I had loads of choice for slots and have been able to book each week for the last 3 weeks. Was it coincidental? Don't know nor care as long as I get some shopping. Don't forget I have Maverick the very hungry cat to feed. I know most would be taking themselves off to the shops but I had a fall and couldn't get up. I had to wait for an hour for help and now I'm in pain but also worried about my balance. Sorry I've rambled a bit but making up for lost time. New tablet and lost connections.