Recommendation 8

DHSC told us it recognised that advising people to stay inside and away from society does have risks as well as benefits. Of those surveyed, some 36% reported worsening mental health and wellbeing while shielding.14 Charities also told us of the impact of lockdown on people not categorised as clinically extremely vulnerable people. They reported how the over 70s and the blind and partially sighted, who were not advised to shield, and therefore not eligible for support through the Programme, struggled to access food. The Royal National Institute for the Blind wrote that the government’s ‘one size fits all’ approach left many blind and partially sighted people behind.15 Identifying all clinically extremely vulnerable people