My FIL really should be classed as extremely vulnerable/shielding. don't know what to do.

[ekidmxcl]

My FIL is:
80
Widowed last month
Doesn't drive
Cancer in lungs (and other places, did not originate in lungs)
Not currently on treatment. Cancer incurable.
Elderly with no mobile phone, no internet, no devices etc.
He doesn't know if he has received any letters from NHS/GP etc. He finds letters taxing and difficult to deal with. MIL dealt with them when she was alive.

He is 100 miles from us. I don't know how to get him shopping. I can't just get a random food box as he can only cook very specific stuff that we showed him. He learnt to heat things recently.

I put him onto my Tesco account and they marked his address as vulnerable for me but can't get a slot.
I can't get a Waitrose slot on my account for him. Phoned them and they couldn't do anything to my account to help me get shopping for him. Can't get vulnerable note on there or anything. They advised me to register him on the government site but I can't as we don't know if he has received any hospital GP letter, so can't affirm that he has and therefore it says ineligible.

We have been driving shopping to him. 4 hours round trip at least as no motorway. What can I do?

[moita]

What a nightmare. Can you ring his GP surgery and explain? Is there any chance he could live with you? Might be worth contacting his local council as lots of places have volunteer support for vulnerable people

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

Try his local council. Where I live the County Council have organised a Corona Support Hub where volunteers are being put in touch with people who need help.

[Bigfishylittlefishy]

You need to contact his local council - also worth checking out facebook for local community support schemes!... they may also be able to signpost you to support services.

[jugotmail]

Check and see if there is a local support group who can help him. We have a local one where if you call/email the admins they will match a local volunteer for one offs or for the duration of need.

[CMOTDibbler]

Oh bless him. Would he be able to reheat frozen ready meals? Oakhouse foods are taking new customers.
Have a look on the FB for his local area. Lots of places are doing deliveries of meals or food - I found a catering company local to my parents who were doing a daily hot meal delivered for a very reasonable price. If you ask on there, someone will know - in my town there are loads of ways if someone asks, and the volunteer centre are co-ordinating efforts
Morrisons are doing a phone order service for a very limited range of products if there is one near him.

His GP would know if he is on the shielding list, so you could phone and explain the situation and ask if someone could phone FIL if he is on the list?

[helpfulperson]

Definitely phone the council. In most areas there are currently more volunteers than people needing help so something should be easy for set up. What is available and how to get referred will vary but the council will know.

[Baaaahhhhh]

Definitely contact his local council, and if in a village, his local parish council. People are literally waiting to help someone like him in need.

In the meantime try Wiltshire Farm Foods, full frozen meals which just need reheating. We also bought our elderlies a small table top freezer for £100. Been a godsend to them.

[knittingaddict]

I'm arranging weekly deliveries from Wiltshire Farm Foods for my parents. It's only frozen ready meals and the available range isn't quite as large as it was previously, but at least they are getting one hot meal a day that they don't have to shop for themselves.

Perhaps research another option for basics like bread and milk.

[Useruseruserusee]

Yes definitely check Facebook for local groups in the short term. There have been similar situations posted on our local group and volunteers have helped.

[Lumene]

Yes definitely local council should be able to help.

Do Cook deliver to him? They do good frozen meals if he could heat them?

What will he eat, people might be able to help with companies that could deliver specific things?

Are there any takeaways/local restaurants delivering as an urgent first port of call?

[Lumene]

Also definitely ring GP and explain situation to them, see if they can confirm whether he has a letter.

[Yellowbutterfly1]

You really need to contact his GP surgery to find out if he should be on the shielding list. If they say he should be but still need to or already have sent a letter then you should be able to register him on the Gov website Extremely Vulnerable list.
I think you may need his NHS number to do this.

If he isn’t deemed to be Extremely vulnerable by the GP/consultant etc then as others have said, find his local towns Facebook page.
Post A question there asking what is available locally delivery wise for your FIL. I’m sure you will get a lot of help there.

[Chanel05]

I know that Sainsbury's are good with slots for the vulnerable if he has one locally. DH's grandma has got one and we sort her delivery for her online each week and there seems to be plenty of choices for dates.

[cptartapp]

Yes to all this.
It might also be worth thinking more long term too now, and considering/ discussing with him what might need to be implemented to help him cope as he deteriorates, i.e., carers etc. He's going to struggle if you're working and he lives 100 miles away.
I'd get him known to social services asap and be very wary of bringing him to live with you.

[Blueroses99]

This is an extract from the shielding text, it has a phone number if that’s helpful to you.

NHS Coronavirus Service: Your condition means you are at high risk of severe illness if you catch Coronavirus. Please remain at home for 12 weeks unless a healthcare professional tells you to leave. You will get a letter from the NHS to confirm this.

Support is available for you if you need it to get help with getting food and basic care. Please complete this short form to tell us whether you need this: //www.gov.uk/coronavirus-extremely-vulnerable.

If you cannot sign up on the website, call us on 0800 028 8327.

[BlueJava]

I had a similar problem with my parents when I couldn't get a food delivery slot for them and I didn't want to drive there and back due to the 180 mile round trip. I joined a local facebook page and then posted saying please could people recommend local delivery companies as I couldn't get a slot. I had about 16 recommendations in under an hour! I have since used two of them for food delivery. There as alternatives to the big companies who deliver - it's just finding them and the local facebook page was invaluable for me.

[ekidmxcl]

Thanks everyone will try to sort this out

[Didkdt]

His local council will know if he's shielded and they will have a hub of volunteers
Adult Social Care
He might get a Meals on wheels slot
His local supermarket may be able to help
Deliveroo are working with the Co OP they may be able to deliver food orders
Some cab companies are collecting click and collect orders for the shielded
Talk to his GP
Good Luck

[goingoverground]

When I did the online registration for my DM, you had to select the relevant illness. It did ask if you had had the letter but there was a "don't know" option so it is worth trying.

The M&S and Aldi food boxes have tinned ready meals. Morrisons were doing ready meal boxes last week, it's worth checking regularly as they seem to change their offering, this week they have added Ramadan and fish boxes. Heinz are doing soup, beans and spaghetti hoops boxes. Have you tried Iceland?

Some councils have lists of local shops/wholesalers delivering on their websites. Co op, Morrisons and M&S are on Deliveroo in many places. Amazon has store cupboard food and household essentials (eg pasta, biscuits, loo roll, washing powder).

[ticktock19]

As already mentioned, Wiltshire Farm Foods and Oakhouse Foods are both great and make meals for all sorts of dietary needs and I think Oakhouse can also include bread, milk, eggs and cheese on their deliveries too

[knittingaddict]

I couldn't find anything but ready meals on the Oakhouse site ticktock. If I could get some basics with an order that would be very helpful.

[CMOTDibbler]

@knittingaddict - I can find bread on there under breakfast, but it says for groceries to call as the local team source them

[knittingaddict]

Oh, thanks for that.

[ticktock19]

Ahh, I'm just going from a brochure I saw a couple of weeks ago, the lady that I was visiting (to care for) said that she was switching to Oakhouse as they could deliver a few groceries as well as the meals which she was delighted with. At the start of the brochure then it listed the groceries available.

[ticktock19]

As @CMOTDibbler says then the brochure came from the local team so I'm presuming that those were the items they could source. They sounded very helpful so I'd hope if you emailed them or called them then they'd be able to give you further information about it all.