Back to work for Clinically vulnerable people from July 31st?

[T1Ryan]

Back to work for Clinically vulnerable people from July 31st?

work has informed me that the government will no longer be advising you to shield.

how does everyone feel about this?

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I had three shielding letters and one not to shield. So just ignored the lot and carried on as normal.
So basically it doesn't bother me one bit. I just take sensible precautions, the same as the majority of the population.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Back to work for Clinically vulnerable people from July 31st?

work has informed me that the government will no longer be advising you to shield.

how does everyone feel about this?

People with straightforward T1 diabetes were not on the shielding list - if you got a shielding letter as being on the ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ list rather than simply the ‘at increased risk’ list you might want to ask your GP what other conditions or factors were at play so that you can discuss them with your employer and ensure they are taking sensible steps to support you in working safely.

This page has information and links about ‘reasonable adjustments’ that workplaces should put in place.

Work and diabetes

This information is about how to manage diabetes at work and to support you in knowing your rights at work. Jump to:

www.diabetes.org.uk

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Back to work for Clinically vulnerable people from July 31st?

work has informed me that the government will no longer be advising you to shield.

how does everyone feel about this?

Having just looked at your previous posts, you state you are not in the shielding group....... IE you have not been given a letter. So basically you are fine, just take sensible precautions.

 

[Becka]

Clinically vulnerable people were never asked to shield, and so returned to work where safe alongside everyone else. It is the clinically extremely vulnerable who were asked to shield. Horrible and confusing terminology, but as all diabetics are clinically vulnerable but only those with complication or certain co-morbidites will have been shielding it is an important distinction to make.

Also the advice to return to work "as long as the workplace is COVID-secure" will be from August 1st in England and Northern Ireland only. Those how can work from home should still do so, as they have been able to do throughout whilst shielding.

In Wales shielding will continue until at least August 16th, whilst Scotland has yet to announce whether it will extend shielding beyond July 31st.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Also the advice to return to work "as long as the workplace is COVID-secure" will be from August 1st in England and Northern Ireland only. Those how can work from home should still do so, as they have been able to do throughout whilst shielding.

That's the advice at present.

The PM has also (just to try to keep people guessing) indicated that people should be going back to work (as opposed to working at home) where that's safe. (I think the problem is town and city centre businesses.) So I wouldn't be surprised for the advice to change in that direction, though at present it's still to work from home where that is possible.

(I think it's also possible that during this month we'll see evidence of rising cases which ought (and might, for all I know) to delay further changes.)

 

[Stitch147]

I've worked throughout the whole thing in a supermarket. I'm just wondering if the new face mask wearing in shops from the 24th means staff too??? It's gonna be fun wearing one of those all day!

 

[grovesy]

Well the Garden centre I was in yesterday the check out guy had a face shield on.

 

[eggyg]

I've worked throughout the whole thing in a supermarket. I'm just wondering if the new face mask wearing in shops from the 24th means staff too??? It's gonna be fun wearing one of those all day!

Middle daughter works in Primark and from yesterday all staff have to wear face masks. Don’t know whether that’s their store manager’s rules or a company rule. She said it wasn’t too bad, she works four hours, but hopes it gets better!

 

[Stitch147]

Middle daughter works in Primark and from yesterday all staff have to wear face masks. Don’t know whether that’s their store manager’s rules or a company rule. She said it wasn’t too bad, she works four hours, but hopes it gets better!

I'm sure we'll be told. We had the option of visors at the start of lockdown but they were so uncomfortable for a 7 1/2 hours shift, especially if you're a spectacles wearer! As long as I can wear one of my Disney ones I don't mind.

 

[Sally71]

I've worked throughout the whole thing in a supermarket. I'm just wondering if the new face mask wearing in shops from the 24th means staff too??? It's gonna be fun wearing one of those all day!

The report on BBC News says it won’t apply to staff.

 

[MarkGeordie]

The report on BBC News says it won’t apply to staff.

I know it would be difficult to wear masks for a whole shift, however NHS staff cope well, just I bet it brings lots of trouble and abuse from customers because they’ll say it’s unfair. I’m glad I left the world of retail several years ago.

 

[Becka]

The PM has also (just to try to keep people guessing) indicated that people should be going back to work (as opposed to working at home) where that's safe. (I think the problem is town and city centre businesses.) So I wouldn't be surprised for the advice to change in that direction, though at present it's still to work from home where that is possible.

Such a change of government advice for the majority of people would be unsurprising anyone, even had it not already been suggested. But it does not follow that the same advice would apply to those who are vulnerable, or specially those considered extremely vulnerable.

The purpose of the advice and measures given to most people is only intended to reduce transmission. So when that is low, and measures allow, the policy will be to get back to normal as much as possible. Although that does not preclude some businesses finding their experience of employees working from home to have been a positive one so choosing to make it to some extent a normal practice.

But for those who are extremely vulnerable the purpose the government advice is to save lives, but the much greater risk of poor outcomes if infected. So whilst shielding will be paused as a measure in England and Northern Ireland, the lists of extremely vulnerable people will continue to be maintained with people added to them where their risk is deemed sufficient.

I would be very surprised if those who have been shielding will be expected to return to workplaces where working from home is possible. Not only because a reduced risk of infection does not reduce the risk of a severe outcome, but in case shielding should have to be unpaused. Something many experts think likely in winter. After telling people it is safe to go back to their normal lives whilst the virus is still active that suddenly it is unsafe.

The experience of over four months of isolation is something many will not want to repeat, and so given contradictory advice many will chose to dismiss it. Which is similar to what happened before lockdown when the government said not to go to pubs and restaurants yet allowed pubs and restaurants to stay open. Some people just followed the advice, but many others resolved the conflict by, quite logically, reasoning that if such places were unsafe they would have been closed.

If there is a change, I expect it to be a more granular approach to diagnosing those at the greatest risk so that the number of people who will need to shield will be reduced. I had expected that to happen last month when they instead announced an extension to the end of July.

From the most recent N.H.S. letter to clinicians:

• Now that more evidence regarding the COVID-19 risk factors is available, the government has commissioned work to develop and evaluate a clinical risk prediction model to estimate short term risks of catching and experiencing adverse outcomes from COVID-19 in adults.

• While this risk tool is being developed, and even though shielding guidance is being paused from 1 August, the existing SPL should be maintained. Clinicians should continue to identify and record people who may be clinically extremely vulnerable to coronavirus and ensure the individual is made aware of this. This is in case shielding (or other) measures are reintroduced at any point in the future, and it is necessary to quickly identify people who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable.

The tool being developed is based on a model created by the University of Oxford. Their FAQ notes that: "Since emerging data suggests that ethnicity, age, and several health conditions are associated with risk of severe COVID-19, many of these factors are included in this research, including ethnicity."

So it is worth noting that it is possible that some people who have not previously been asked to shield, such as those with diabetes who are as older or from certain ethnicities, may be asked to do so in future.

Development of a COVID-19 risk prediction model — Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford

www.phc.ox.ac.uk

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Such a change of government advice for the majority of people would be unsurprising anyone, even had it not already been suggested. But it does not follow that the same advice would apply to those who are vulnerable, or specially those considered extremely vulnerable.

That would be sensible, yes. (Based on their record not all that likely, but certainly possible.)

And regardless of government advice, where working from home is practical companies are very much going to continue allowing it, even if just for the liability issues.

 

[mikeyB]

Excellent point, Bruce. The liability issues will have occurred to most employers, so i would expect them to bend over backwards to insist on sensible precautions. Smaller companies, however, may struggle.