Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how (1) NHS hospitals, and (2) GPs, were consulted on the lists of those deemed clinically extremely vulnerable.

The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers and other senior clinicians developed clinical consensus about which conditions should automatically consider someone as clinically extremely vulnerable. This has been updated throughout the pandemic based on the latest evidence. From April 2020, general practitioners (GPs) and clinicians were asked to review their patient lists and given the ability to add or remove individuals from the Shielded Patient List where appropriate. In February 2021, individuals were identified by the COVID-19 population risk assessment and added to the Shielded Patient List. Significant changes affecting clinically extremely vulnerable people have been communicated with GPs through the Primary Care Bulletin.