Shielding vulnerable patients from COVID-19

Shielding was a public health measure announced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aimed to protect those deemed clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) who were at the highest risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. This population was identified due to co-morbidities placing them at high risk. The shielded patients list (SPL) was then expanded to include those in the top 2% for risk of catching COVID-19 and dying (as identified by the risk prediction model QCovid®), with those patients added being identified due to age, ethnicity, deprivation and body mass index, as well as co-morbidities. The shielding programme has now been closed down. This module summarises the history of shielding and aims to answer questions that those previously on the SPL may ask their GP. If shielding ever restarts, the current list will not be used; instead a new one will be generated. Previous shielding modules are available to download.

This resource was developed by RCGP Learning.