PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Mental Illness: Coronavirus (4 May 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether people with severe mental illness can register as extremely vulnerable to get access to essential food and medication supplies through the NHS volunteer scheme during the lockdown.

Asked by:
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour)

The NHS Volunteer Responders programme is available to anyone in England with a mental health illness if they are having issues accessing supermarkets or for picking up prescriptions. Whilst it was originally designed to support the shielded population, it is not limited to this cohort, and it is open to wider vulnerable groups who may having issues accessing essentials.

If a vulnerable person needs support in this way, they can either self-refer, or can be referred into the programme through a number of routes, including health professionals and local authorities.

Answered by:
Helen Whately (Conservative)
12 May 2020