We very much welcome the announcement that the Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that renal dialysis patients should be advised to shield. This will provide much needed clarity for the 30,000 people on dialysis in the UK right now. The fact that this applies across the whole of the UK means that there will no longer be confusion with different rules applying depending on where you live. We hope this will help people access the support they so desperately need.
Fiona Loud, Policy Director at Kidney Care UK, adds: “There have been very mixed messages on whether people on dialysis need to shield and there has not necessarily been the joined up communication between primary and secondary care that’s needed; Some people have told us they had been advised by their renal unit to shield but their GP has said they don’t need to. We are worried that people who need protecting haven’t been advised to get that protection and that has exposed them to risks. Knowing that if you are a dialysis patient in the UK you should be shielding until the end of June provides the clarity that we have been asking for and that so many have needed.”
Where they have not already done so, renal units will get in touch with patients, send them a letter and add them to the Shielded Patient List via the regular trust submissions to NHS Digital. GPs are asked to note this update.