Housebound people being missed for vaccination, NHS warned

People who need to receive their covid vaccinations at home are missing out because their eligibility is not being recognised by GPs, experts have warned.

There have been numerous reports of housebound people being told they are ineligible for a home visit in recent weeks, with some home care providers saying only a minority of their elderly clients have been vaccinated so far.

Chit Selvarajah, policy manager at the charity Independent Age, said: “We have heard from people who say they are housebound being told they weren’t considered as housebound and told to go to a vaccination centre as they are not eligible for a home visit."

“We don’t know how many people have been vaccinated but it’s likely to be very small numbers at the moment.”

Ruthe Isden, head of health and care influencing at Age UK, believes some older people have “slipped into being effectively housebound” over the last year, and are not yet registered as such on GP databases.

She said: “The pandemic has hit the fast forward button on ageing for a lot of people. They’ve aged a long way in a short period and seen their health really deteriorate, and often they are not going to proactively identify themselves as needing more help."

“It’s vital we are thinking systematically about reaching this group. At the moment, there seems to be considerable variation in how people are followed up.”

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Source: HSJ, 22 February 2021