Shielding Children

Can you please produce clear guidance for parents living with shielding children and consider putting in place protections for these parents as well as for the shielded person themselves?

Why the contribution is important

The current shielding advice is all aimed at adults who are shielding, as are the letters that have been sent out to households. This makes it very difficult to fully understand what parents should do for the best for their shielded children.

The advice suggests that if you are shielding and living with someone you should be socially distancing yourself from them eg. using separate rooms, preparing meals and having them separately, keeping two metres apart in ventilated rooms when together. This is impossible to do with young children who are already vulnerable and confused by this situation .

As a parent of two shielded young children I am most concerned about what happens when works begin to reopen. As it stands, the guidance implies that our children would have to isolate from us which I don't think anyone would argue is realistic. Clearly, this puts parents like us in an impossible position.

The only way to shield a child is to shield yourself. Please can this be taken into account when preparing any guidance?

by Sunshine123 on May 05, 2020 at 07:07PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.7
Based on: 9 votes

Comments

  • Posted by Rainyday May 05, 2020 at 21:30

    Totally agree. We’re shielding as a family as the guidance to stay 2m, eat in another room, etc is impossible. With no garden and the fear we’ll be told to shield indefinitely until a vaccine, when we can ‘bubble’, get a haircut or go back to school are irrelevant.
    I realise we are trying to protect children (and adults) in the extremely vulnerable group, but while the offer of a food box and medication delivered is good, we need a bit more.
    We’re prisoners in our own homes with no release date.

  • Posted by JRob999 May 05, 2020 at 21:53

    I’m glad someone has raised this point. As a parent who is shielding his children I feel our situation has been totally overlooked.

  • Posted by MacLennan1968 May 05, 2020 at 22:40

    The Hospital Clinicians looking after the children should be allowed to make the decisions about whether each child needs to be shielding or not. A letter sent to children based on their medication only was inappropriate, upsetting and terrifying for them. The advice from world wide studies shows that immunocompromised children are no more at risk of severe symptoms than other children who mostly get mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. The specialist Drs should be allowed to provide next steps for each child whom they know well.

  • Posted by Rainyday May 08, 2020 at 00:56

    Above comment...
    My daughter isn’t immunocompromised, not sure why you made that assumption, presumably because that fit with whatever you read somewhere. She got a shielding letter because of her condition, not her medication and she’s not upset or terrified.
    Had clinic virtually today and got qualified advice.
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