The Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office received the list for the purpose of delivering the government's extremely vulnerable persons service, which provided additional support to clinically extremely vulnerable people (including food parcels) as well as to the local authorities affected by national and local restrictions. This sharing ceased on 17 September 2021 based upon the government’s announcement of the end of shielding in England.
Supermarkets did not receive the SPL. When patients registered with the government’s extremely vulnerable persons service, they were able to request support for food deliveries. It was this information that flowed to supermarkets and/or food distributors.
Local authorities
Local authorities received the list to identify clinically extremely vulnerable people and provide targeted support as part of the local COVID-19 response. This included offering help, social care and support in coordination with other relevant organisations.
Local authorities were permitted to link SPL data with local authority NHS Test and Trace data to identify people who were clinically extremely vulnerable that came into contact with people recorded by NHS Test and Trace. They could then identify people who were clinically extremely vulnerable that were directed to isolate by the NHS Test and Trace Service. In both cases, this was to offer them appropriate advice and direct care.
NHS clinical commissioning groups
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) received the list for the purpose of providing GP practices with support, and patients in their CCG area with support and care.
Capita
Capita received the list for the purpose of distributing letters to shielded patients, on behalf of NHS England and Improvement, as their data processor.
APS Group Limited
APS Group received the list for the purpose of distributing letters to shielded patients, on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) as their data processor.
NHS Business Services Authority
The NHS Business Services Authority received the list for the purpose of sending text messages to shielded patients, on behalf of DHSC as their data processor.
NHS Business Service Authority also operated the Prescription Payment Verification assurance function and following direction by NHS England and Improvement, included those functions for shielded patient pharmacy, post payment verification. This was to ensure that the prescription delivery services provided to previously clinically extremely vulnerable patients, who were shielding and required prescription delivery support were operating effectively, and to ensure that public funds assigned for COVID-19 services to patients were being managed appropriately.
Gov.Notify
On behalf of DHSC and NHS England and Improvement, NHS Digital’s data processor Gov.Notify, received the list for the purpose of sending letters, emails and text messages to patients previously identified as clinically extremely vulnerable.
Emails were used in addition to letters to ensure patients received timely information on their risk status, shielding policy, advice and guidance.
NHS England and Improvement and TPP Group Ltd
NHS England/NHS Improvement and TPP received the list for the purpose of identifying patients on the SPL who were in the detained estate and who needed advice, support, and care.
NHS England and Improvement
Data was disseminated to NHS England and Improvement for the purposes of strategic commissioning. Data was pseudonymised and held on the NHS England data warehouse - the National Central Data Repository or NCDR. The NHS COVID‑19 Reference Library described the datasets used in the NHS COVID‑19 Data Store, and the sources of those datasets.
Data was also disseminated to NHS England and Improvement for the purposes of providing an SPL feed into the COVID-19 vaccination programme (using National Immunisation Management System (NIMS)). This supported the Joint Commission for Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) who identified that patients who are clinically extremely vulnerable should be offered a priority vaccination.
National Services Scotland
National Services Scotland (NSS) were responsible for the Scottish Shielded Patient List. The purpose of sharing this information was so that NSS could contact Scottish residents who were identified as clinically extremely vulnerable as a result of direct care received in the NHS in England, to provide them with details of support they could obtain locally from Scottish local authorities where they were resident, including food parcels.
NHS Wales Informatics Service
NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS) were responsible for the Welsh Shielded Patient List. The purpose of sharing this information was so that NWIS could contact the Welsh residents who were identified as clinically extremely vulnerable as a result of direct care received in the NHS in England, to provide them with details of support they could obtain locally from Welsh local authorities where they were resident, including food parcels.
Redbridge CCG
Redbridge CCG were responsible for the 111 call handling systems for London. The purpose of sharing this information was to support an NHS England and Improvement pilot programme, so that patients on the Shielded Patient List who called 111 and required referral to an emergency department would be flagged as being on the Shielded Patient List - enabling clinicians to make appropriate care arrangements.
Mental health providers
Mental health providers were responsible for mental health services commissioned by CCGs. The purpose of sharing this information was to support an NHS England and Improvement policy, so that patients on the Shielded Patient List in receipt of mental health services from the provider could be proactively contacted and have their care plans reviewed. This was because shielding was an extreme course of action likely to have had significant impact on the shielding individual’s mental health before, during and after periods of national and local restrictions.
Public Health England
Data was disseminated to Public Health England (PHE) for the purposes of COVID-19 vaccination programme surveillance. PHE had a role to monitor the delivery, safety and effectiveness of immunisation programmes in England and required the SPL Data to improve the data set in order to analyse the impact of COVID-19 vaccines for people previously identified as clinically extremely vulnerable.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
Data was disseminated to DHSC’s service provider, Paragon, for the purposes of supplying a vitamin D supplement to those who were clinically extremely vulnerable and who had registered for a free vitamin D supplement been December 2020 and February 2021 via the 'Get Vitamin D Supplements' service.
University of Oxford
SPL data was shared with the University of Oxford, for the development and validation of a risk prediction QCovid® risk calculator to estimate short term adverse outcomes from COVID-19. This was a risk stratification tool to support national shielding policy.