Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance on social distancing published by Public Health England on 16 March 2020, whether patients with rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases are considered as being at increased risk of severe illness from covid-19; and whether those patients will receive direct advice from the NHS on the steps they need to take to keep themselves safe.

One of the groups of people that the National Health Service advises to be at high risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 is those receiving immunosuppression therapies, enough to significantly increase risk of infection.

The advice for those classed as high risk is to follow the Government’s guidance on shielding and protecting people defined on medical grounds as extremely vulnerable from COVID-19.

The NHS has been contacting those considered to be at high risk since 23 March 2020 with specific advice about the actions they should take. However, it is not possible to identify all clinically high-risk individuals through existing central databases, particularly those receiving specialist treatments or where disease severity would support the application of general social distancing advice. General practitioners and specialists are identifying and contacting patients who, may fall into the clinically high-risk group.

Patients are encouraged to visit Gov.UK for full advice on protecting themselves if they are at high risk from coronavirus.