If shielding means you get full pay without having to work in some jobs surely some people will push their doctor to say they need to shield

[Treesofwood]

And their GP is going to feel they have to agree due to the repercussions should that person be unlucky?
It is a huge and unhelpful job to push onto GPs
But also it can be manipulated.
Of course the blanket shielding from March wasn't great either. Not sure what the answer is.

I’m a teacher and won’t be shielding this time (I’ll have to pretend I didn’t get a letter though, as school will make me shield if I’ve been advised to)

Hang on! If such a scheme is to be of use it must be accessible. If it's to be accessible then we have to tolerate a certain level of inappropriate claims. All reasonable efforts should be made to detect and deal with these claims but fundamentally it's better to pay a few false claims than to refuse someone in need.

Anyone who puts pressure on their gp to give them a sick note to get furlough are dishonest dickheads.
Just like furlough over the last few months these will also be investigated. Monies dishonestly claimed will have to be paid back, although personally I hope they go one step further and make it clear, fraudulent furlough claims can face prosecution.

Mrshoho, I'm the same, my neighbour said to me the other day if they didn't know me, they'd never know how ill I was as I was looking really well.

Hopefully this time round it won't be compulsory and we can decide for ourselves if we want to work or not.

I do remember when shielding was first announced there were posters saying they should be shielding and ringing GPs demanding letters. I don’t know what benefits they thought shielding conferred. A free food box and a free flu jab are hardly Lottery wins! I honestly think some people are a bit attention-seeking hypochondriacs, and don’t stop to think what conditions make for a poor Covid outcome.

I too was a consultant referral. My gp rang up when he received notification to tell me to exercise caution as there were a lot of skiing spreaders round here...

@IrmaFayLear if you need to shield, chances are you were getting the flu jab already anyway

Certainly it was never the case for teachers, they were WFH. The teaching guidance has mandated for even clinically extremely vulnerable teachers to go into school since late June.

That wasn't the case for DCs school. I think there was a lot of variety on this front. Even our head didn't go into work.

Shielding is paused at the moment.

Franklydear... yes, so? Still saves me £13.99 at Boots. Absolutely worth having my condition for

I would question the sanity of anyone who wanted one of the conditions that mean they would have to shield.
If they do and want to use mine I am MORE than willing to trade them.
They're pretty definite conditions though - how would you fake having any of them in order to be diagnosed. ......

I’m a GP and it went both ways with shielding. People calling up having not requested inhalers or attended any asthma reviews for 5+ years suddenly claiming they had severe asthma and wanting “a letter”. Conversely some of the people who were very high risk and we were reaching out to offer support to didn’t want to hear about it as the thought of completely shielding was not something they wanted. I’d say there are some mixed messages in the media though, and the list of conditions which mean you have to shield is very tight - having type 2 diabetes for example is never going to make the shielding list.

That wasn't the case for DCs school. I think there was a lot of variety on this front. Even our head didn't go into work.

Just because the national guidance said heads could pull CEV folk in, didn't mean that they did. Our school had 6 students in out of 1300.

I’ll have to pretend I didn’t get a letter though, as school will make me shield if I’ve been advised to

I you have such a decent school, I'd do it. I fully appreciate how rubbish working from home is but they aren't suggesting you shield for no reason.

My sil was told a while ago that she was at risk of type 2 diabetes. At risk, note, she didn’t actually have it.

Nonetheless she is “shielding” as she is “extremely vulnerable” and she seemed mightily envious of my doom-laden texts, scary letters and, last week, my free flu jab, for me and household members, natch.

Where does it say if you have to shield you get paid in full?? Nowhere.

@IrmaFayLear don’t take offence, please, I also have a condition, I had to shield, my point was simply that the free flu jab isn’t really something new for people shielding.

I'm sorry - who says people who might be shielding, assuming the government reintroduced shielding, are going to get full pay? Because few employers will be paying people to not work, and the government aren't likely to be doing that either! In fact, people shielding are currently not entitled to SSP never mind anything else.

In work in the Public Sector, which of course is "notorious" for its easy going attitudes and overly generous terms (that's sarcasm by the way). If employees are required to shield, they must work from home. If they cannot work from home, and if a covid secure workspace is not available, they will be considered for redeployment to other work. If other work is not available, then yes, they are the lucky ones. They will be placed on occupational sick pay. Their absences will be recorded and used as part of any redundancy processes, as with everyone else. And if they are off long enough they will be dismissed anyway.

It wont be full pay, companies simply cannot afford it and furlough is rumoured to be two thirds of wages.

It’s ok, Franklydear - I was just (rather clumsily!) trying to make the point that “aspirational” shielders were eyeing the flu jab as a benefit as they didn’t get one. Just as I suppose a small number of people might be cottoning on to this idea that shielders could be paid to stay in so, as the GP poster observed upthread, some cfs who had had a bad cold ten years ago (exaggeration alert!) will be storming their surgery for a shielding letter.

@110APiccadilly

I'd imagine that there would be as many people told they could shield who'd say they'd rather not as people not eligible for shielding who'd push to be included though, as I assume shielding would mean also not seeing friends and family indoors (possibly unless they were also shielding?)

We can’t see friends and family indoors in lockdown areas in Wales anyway. No bubbles unless in the same authority. That wouldn’t be a deterrent...

It won’t be your average GP making the decision. It would be consultants

People can ask a GP for a shielding letter, they way some people try and con themselves a sick note for work. A GP is a medical profession and isn’t going to give Sarah a shielding note for a stubbed toe.

My DH has cancer and I have type 2 diabetes, at no point have either of us shielded, my DH was contacted by his G.P. in May to say that he will receive a letter to shield but to ignore. I work for the nhs so if shielded we are given other work to do from home. Full pay is given if off sick not shielding. I am sure this must be true for a lot of companies

I'd imagine that there would be as many people told they could shield who'd say they'd rather not as people not eligible for shielding who'd push to be included though, as I assume shielding would mean also not seeing friends and family indoors (possibly unless they were also shielding?)

I won't be shielding a second time round.

The small amount of going out I can do, I'm keeping hold of it. I keep well clear of any shops, as I can't wear a mask (just don't go there!!) and I'm sick of the abuse. There is only one place I go where I don't get any and it wouldn't be tolerated by them anyway, so I'm keeping hold of that trip out.

Any people that don't meet the criteria for shielding, but are screaming they should be, would probably change their tune or give up, if they did it properly.

It wasn't my gp who put me on the list, it was one of my consultants. My gp couldn't make that decision, how could they? All they could do was give my consultant another kick up the arse.

Just because the national guidance said heads could pull CEV folk in, didn't mean that they did. Our school had 6 students in out of 1300.

By a massive coincidence that's exactly how many our school had too!

Yes, I know several people still shielding, doing no work from home, and getting full pay for it.

Employers involved are:

• local education authority
• large, multi-national bank
• local health board