Please do not take supermarket delivery slots unless NEEDED

[Chester1980]

This is a plea to anyone who is not vulnerable - please do not take delivery slots from supermarkets. My elderly father lives hundreds of miles away and I cannot get him a slot because they’re all unavailable. This is despite him having an NHS shielding letter. We can’t even get through to any customer services for help.

If you can get to a supermarket and you’re not vulnerable, please think of others who cannot get out and release your delivery slot.

I had exactly the same with my dad. Luckily he found out that his local co-op (East of England Co-Op) take orders over the phone and deliver (for their elderly, regular customers I think). They are literally life savers and I owe them so much. He also has deliveries from the butchers and milkman. They are all amazing. I was so worried for a while. Call me selfish, but I am not ready to loose him 😢

Please please don’t take delivery slots unless you are elderly or immunocompromised. Many youngish, healthy people have very mild symptoms. Yes you may get it badly but the over 65s won’t be ventilated if they have to choose.

Please please leave the delivery slots for those who need them 💔

@Michaelbaubles yes, it does catch us out sometimes as we are given an estimate of items for the following day so staff and delivery drivers can be planned, then people amend and add extra items last minute. It generally accounts for late deliveries.

I don’t want to go any further into the logistics of online shopping, I was trying to point out something that people could consider when ordering. That’s all.

Stay in the queue for Morrisons, remember that is everyone in the country, not just the local area.

Sainsburys seem to show slots during the day.

Check the local council website, local facebook page and councillor or if appropriate the housing association, they should all be able to point people in the right direction of who is doing food deliveries.

Also, people who have or think they have the virus will need delivery. If they can’t get food delivered, they’re likely to have no choice but go to the shops.

Just can’t believe the selfishness of some people.

OP I was having the same problem with Dad who has Dementia but is not on the shield list but I can't leave him in the house on his own to go shopping but none of the Supermarkets seem to want to help.

I phoned my father's GP and they put in contact with someone they are calling a Social Prescriber who referred my Dad through to the NHS volunteers. I had a phone from a lovely lady today who can help in any way we need, including shopping for us (any shop we want) they can collect prescriptions basically they are there to help.

Can I suggest you phone your Dad's GP and get him referred through to the NHS volunteers.

So many threads with people casting judgement on shopping lists with “non essential” items. (Not just the current person on this thread).

It would be really interesting to see their shopping receipts. I bet we would all be able to pick holes in that and say but xx is not essential.

I’m dreading if one day I will have to rely on someone to process my shopping. Hopefully there won’t be another pandemic 🙁

But you can add stuff to your shop until the night before? So they can’t sell the slots based on the size of the shops people do? I add stuff to mine all the tine, in fact they text you to encourage you to add stuff!

I've always done this. Sometimes I just put one item in before I check out. Not to be a pain in the arse, but if you don't book your slot at a certain time, you won't get the slot you want. If you don't check out within a couple of hours, you lose your slot, but you might not feel like doing your shopping list at 11pm on a Monday night.

I mean in normal times, not at the moment.

I think it's terribly sad that many young, healthy people are taking these slots. I would bet that many of them support the social distancing measures- to protect the vulnerable- but still put themselves first by taking these slots. OP, my local councillor, along with a local church leader has offered help to vulnerable people in my area. Could you get in touch with someone like that who may help your father?

My friend has a large family and a deliver slot for next week. They are running low on food but she thought ‘hey, I am fit and healthy I can go to the supermarket’ and was about to give up her slot. Then a little voice called from his bedroom ‘mum, I feel sick’. They are now stuck inside for 14 days needing food for seven people for two weeks. Not the sort of quantity volunteers are expecting to shop for. Thank goodness she still has her delivery slot.

I think it's terribly sad that many young, healthy people are taking these slots.

How do you know they're healthy? Millions of people fall in the vulnerable category, and not just the elderly. I've just lost my midwife as she's got to distance because of chronic asthma. You would never know to look at her. She looks very healthy.

is on the shielding list. I registered on the gov site and filled it in to say food supplies were required. About a week later I got an email from ASDA saying you will get priority on slots

England only it seems. Never mind shielding transplant patients anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Gov site not takinging into account anyone unless they live in England, no one else anywhere prepared to help. Can’t go out, can’t get slots, cant afford premium prices of local businesses.
Natural selection then I guess? Can’t get food delivered with minimal risk so just have to go out with the masses and risk death, shame after crappy genetics put me so close to death in the first place, that a young mans generosity at death gave me a new chance at life only for it to be cut short again, because I can’t get a delivery slot as I don’t live in the one place Gov.uk choose to enforce priority delivery slots.

Since I am over 60 which is considered elderly on MN I shall be keeping my slots

Don't know where you are @Isanidiot, but there is a shielding document for people in Scotland and one for Wales , which tells you to contact your local authority if you need help with prescription collection or food shopping.
Don 't know about NI, I haven't looked.

In reality, the priority shopping hype, is not all it's cracked up to be for many reasons.

IMHO, using local volunteers is the way to go.

Try Facebook local Coronovirus support pages.

Keep your slot @BubbleWings If you gave it up, there's no guarantee it would go to someone on the shielded list.

As for people buying non-essential items - well then why are the shops selling them? It's very tedious that people's purchases are being judged by the shopping police. if Asda does not want people buying arts and crafts stuff, they will withdraw it from sale. In the nicest way, please mind your own business. Or channel your busy-bodying in a constructive way - like helping people?

Chester1980 I know somebody else has already said this but please please do look at the very good Morrisons food box service. I know you said you had tried the Morrisons grocery but you need to go to a different page for the food boxes.

You need to look at this link www.morrisons.com/food-boxes/boxes
NOT the main Morrisons delivery page as that has a queue as you have already discovered.

Do not be put off if there are no boxes when you try. They have a new allocation each day and if you persist you will be sucessful.

Delivery is within a couple of days and the boxes are excellent - good value and certainly enough to keep your dad going until you can sort out a delivery.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned Co-op deliveries. They don’t all do it but worth a look. Also M&S via Deliveroo, min spend £10, free delivery. Again not all areas.

Anyone in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales have any tips? From what I can gather (from friends in 2 countries) only English residents are getting priority help - can anyone not in England help/navigate around the English system?

Here are the arrangements for Scotland. They have been slower getting their first food boxes out but I know some are getting them now and they contain some fresh meat and veg as well as other essentials.

I know prescriptions were being delivered in my area by the local voluntary agency, I was given a phone number as I would have been eligible but was able to get someone else to go.

The Covid-19 group in my area is basically just people bitching at each other but some other Facebook groups are more helpful.

Anyone who hasn't got a car could use Amazon Pantry for heavier and bulky stuff, then they could probably make less trips to the supermarket for the fresh stuff that Amazon doesn't sell

Only delivery I could get was Morrison food box but wasn't too bad what was in there

Am I selfish too, we are both disabled hubby Parkinson’s (trying to get diagnosed ) I’m registered blind have have arthritis. I can’t cope with supermarkets normally so once our slots gone next week it will local shop.

I feel guilty about taking one but DH has awful asthma (not bad enough to be on the shielding list though), and I have it mildly. We are basically isolating ourselves though, at my insistence. We’ve got a slot for this week and will be keeping it. It’s playing on my mind that we have a small child, and I don’t want to leave him without one or both of his parents.

Agree though- local veg boxes have been amazing, as has our bakery, and another small shop which delivers. Definitely worth getting on Facebook or trying to get an NHS volunteer referral.

OP I second Wiltshire Farm Foods who I used to use for my Mum. Would hopefully keep him going x

If i still had a dad and if that dad lived 200 miles away and was struggling to get food ( or even if no problems with food but just due to covid) then i would drive the 200 miles and bring him to live with me and look after him myself.