Additional people are now being added to the Shielded Patient List using the QCovid risk calculator
This information is sourced from NHS Digital, the BMJ, QCovid and the RCGP:
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NO LONGER RELEVANT AND IS NOT BEING UPDATED BUT HAS BEEN LEFT ON THE SITE FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY
The University of Oxford’s QCovid® risk prediction model was approved by NHS England on 16 February
NHS Digital are now using this risk prediction calculator to identify additional people to be added to the Shielded Patient List (SPL). Further information on this is available on NHS Digital’s website including template letters to inform people they are being added or removed
from the SPL.
The QCovid score is a risk score which uses a range of factors such as age, sex, ethnicity and existing medical conditions to predict risk of death or hospitalisation from Covid-19
It provides nuanced information on patient’s risk of serious illness due to Covid-19 and has the potential to help patients and doctors reach a shared understanding of risk
It is a ‘living’ risk prediction model and will be updated regularly by QResearch
If you repeat the calculation in primary care you may not get the same result because:
- The central search uses both primary and secondary care data
- If there is information missing a default will be used – Black African for ethnicity, male for sex and 31 for BMI (this is a precautionary approach to ensure risk isn’t under estimated)
- The patient may have had a diagnosis added/removed from their notes since the central search was done
The code underpinning the QCovid model will be made available openly by the University of Oxford within a month, the Government announced on 16 February
See Also: Shielding
