Husband not in the right place on the list?

[Bells3032]

My DH had cancer in the past and as a result is on long term steroids which can weaken his immune system. his parents are 61 and 62 and otherwise healthy. Therefore he should be above them on the list for vaccine calls. They belong to the same GP. His parents have both been given the first dose of the vaccine but radio silent on DH's.

Called the GP and they said it's set by the NHS and not them and they can't help.

What should we do?

Are you in contact with the Consultant for the cancer, you could ask them to make sure your records are up to date. I would also write to your GP’s Practice Manager, asking them to look into it.

Did he speak to the GP or a receptionist?

If you think he should be in group 6 and can pin point the category he falls in then speak to his actual GP.

Long term steroid use in itself isn't in group 6

I take that back. It's here:

lowered immunity due to disease or treatment (such as HIV infection, steroid medication, chemotherapy or radiotherapy)

Has he had a letter to shield? There is a link to book online if so

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/

I thought we were about to move to cats 5 and 6. There might have been an error in calling his parents who would be in cat 7. But of course there is the possibility that they also have health issues (which they have kept private) which put them into 6 as well.

The categories are set centrally, but GPs assign the patients on their list to the categories they should be in. Now either the error is in your DH's notes, and a relevant drug is not mentioned (he needs to get that checked) or the notes are correct and your DH is not as high risk as he thought.

Who did he speak to?

They are right in that the Govt has set the criteria (on advice from the JCVI) but they're wrong in that the GP puts individual in the correct group.

He needs to email his GP, not speak to the receptionist.

Have you read the actual guidelines? They're pretty specific about what cancers & what drugs put you at greater risk & which don't.

I'm G6 (51/diabetic) I feel very fortunate, but also a bit guilty, that I've had my first one but my surgery is doing very well with groups 1-4, going out to many patients who couldn't get in etc and they sent me the invitation. I didn't ask for it.

They did masses of people on Saturday as they wanted to get as many done as possible, before the snow (that we didn't end up getting!!)

Have a good look at the actual JCVI criteria then if he's on it, email his GP and ask fir a phone call. Good luck

There is a central way to book. It won't necessarily be through his gp.

Thanks all. he hasn't had a letter to shield as he's not in the CEV group (group 4 for the vaccine) but he was told by his consultant that his medication could make him high risk (his consultant i think actually wrote the guidance on it) so he should be in group 6 but his parents should be in 7.

His parents both got the call in the same week and said all the others at the vaccine centre were their age so don't think that they both secretly have underlying health issues.

Think he just spoke with the receptionist so will get him to email the GP as well and speak to his consultant. I just don't want him waiting months and months to get it.

Was he shielding? It depends how much steroids he's on as to which group he is in and if he takes any other biologics or dmards

Sorry x post re shielding

For those posters saying email your GP directly or speak to your GP, just a word of warning. The GPs at the practice I work at will not speak to you regarding your place in the queue for the Covid vaccine.

They are simply too busy trying to deal with everything else & also actually give Covid vaccines.

If a patient has been told by their Consultant that they are in a the wrong group for the vaccine, then a letter from that Consultant to the practice could help. But as has already been said, GPs are not placing patients in groups. The JCVI are doing that.

Sorry forgot to add - any emails received on the subject would also be passed to “Reception” staff to call & explain.

Receptionists are not making up rules as they go along. They are passing messages from the GPs directly to patients.

[quote dementedpixie]Has he had a letter to shield? There is a link to book online if so

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/[/quote]
That doesnt work

My DH has had numerous letters but can't book
It seems the marker was taken off his file by the GP- not sure why

@CoffeeRunner

For those posters saying email your GP directly or speak to your GP, just a word of warning. The GPs at the practice I work at will not speak to you regarding your place in the queue for the Covid vaccine.

They are simply too busy trying to deal with everything else & also actually give Covid vaccines.

If a patient has been told by their Consultant that they are in a the wrong group for the vaccine, then a letter from that Consultant to the practice could help. But as has already been said, GPs are not placing patients in groups. The JCVI are doing that.

This is a problem I am having. There is a problem with the group 6 vaccinations.

If you believe you fall in the category, you either can't find out if you have been correctly coded, or if you have not been correctly coded, there is no way to rectify that with the GP practice.

Has there been an NHS edict that anyone wanting to rectify their coding must be a fraud because I simply cannot get this done. Every time I try, I get a lecture about how giving a vaccine to someone not currently coded as in Group 6 will deprive someone more needy - but that assumes that an incorrectly coded patient is less needy than a correctly coded patient, which is clearly not the case.

It seems the marker was taken off his file by the GP- not sure why

I think the GPs are really struggling to get through the patients already on their list in group 6 and cannot face adding any more.

This would be alleviated if the NHS would make better use of the mass hubs.

it was always known that GPs would not have capacity to vaccinate everyone in their area, which is why there are mass hubs.

These mass hubs are currently operating at one third of current capacity.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9249063/Covid-vaccine-centre-standing-idle-rigid-NHS-priority-rules.html

Plus there is a restriction on even being offered an appointment at these mass hubs of being within 45 minutes of them, which means in areas outside of that radius everyone has to be vaccinated by the GPs, which is totally overwhelming GPs in those areas.

The 45 minute restriction needs to be removed.

@myvaccineisnotsurplus

It seems the marker was taken off his file by the GP- not sure why

I think the GPs are really struggling to get through the patients already on their list in group 6 and cannot face adding any more.

This would be alleviated if the NHS would make better use of the mass hubs.

it was always known that GPs would not have capacity to vaccinate everyone in their area, which is why there are mass hubs.

These mass hubs are currently operating at one third of current capacity.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9249063/Covid-vaccine-centre-standing-idle-rigid-NHS-priority-rules.html

Plus there is a restriction on even being offered an appointment at these mass hubs of being within 45 minutes of them, which means in areas outside of that radius everyone has to be vaccinated by the GPs, which is totally overwhelming GPs in those areas.

The 45 minute restriction needs to be removed.

Its not that

Our GP isnt vaccinating. We have a hub 10 minutes walk away

The record says that the flag was removed on 30th May- it wasn't communicated to us in any way- so not told not to shield. He was still having cancer treatment at that point- so it all makes no sense.

OK, it seems there are many different ways people eligible for the vaccine in group 6 are being denied access!

What dose of steroids is he on? Does he take anything else?

@LivingMyBestLife2020 i don't know the dose but high dose is in group 4 and low dose is in group 6 so either way he should be higher than his parents. There doesn't seem to be much guidance on what is classed as high.

He has a multitude of medication and conditions that were caused by the brain tumour inc low thyroid and diabetes insipidus but i don't think that either of those have any link to being high risk for covid (although if it were to prevent him from drinking the diabetes inspidus could become a real problem).

I understand they are overloaded but it's not a case of georgraphy - there are two major hubs within a ten minute drive - one of which is currently vaccinating under 65s with underlying health conditions and his GP seem to be on over 55s already. There just doesn't seem to be any way to ensure you are in the right group or any guidance on what to do if its wrong.

I was told 20mg or more group 4
5-20mg group 6
Less than 5 same as everyone else unless other immunosuppressant are taken

I had similar concerns about my husband, Op. Emailed the GP asking for them to put in writing the reasons why he was not in a priority group. Didn't receive any reply, but 24 hours later my husband got contacted with 2 hours notice to have his vaccination 🤔

@Motnight

I had similar concerns about my husband, Op. Emailed the GP asking for them to put in writing the reasons why he was not in a priority group. Didn't receive any reply, but 24 hours later my husband got contacted with 2 hours notice to have his vaccination 🤔

I bet they put him on a reserve list. Pretty much not saying that he was in the wrong group (or necessarily even looking into it) but just a “call him if we are likely to have spare doses”. Basically just to shut him up.

I have seen this happen also.

Have you tried to book him on the vaccine nhs website OP?

CoffeeRunner, you might be right! He was definitely in the wrong priority list though.

My dad was in the wrong group. He had had shielding letters etc and still placed in group 5 or 6. He got that fed up of hearing of anyone and everyone being vaccinated so rang to speak to his GP. The doctor said "leave it with me" and my dad had his jab booked the next day. He was placed in the wrong group. They tried saying his shielding letter hadn't gone through to them, but he knows that isn't true because they previously contacted him about it.

He had tried voicing his concerns with the receptionists many many times, but they just kept repeating the group he was in.

So definitely try and speak to the doctor or the consultant to see exactly where you lie. They were very convincing telling my dad that what he thought was wrong, when he was right after all.