Priority shopping campaign UPDATE
April 03, 2020
On Friday 27 March, we wrote a letter to the UK Government and major supermarket chains, signed by members of Forward-ME and the All Party Parliamentary Group for M.E. We highlighted the immediate challenge faced by people with M.E. in accessing food and essential supplies, and asked for immediate action.
So far, we have received responses from Tesco, Iceland and Marks & Spencer. We have included a summary of each response here and will update this as we receive more responses.
It is clear that many Supermarkets are only able to consider special requirements for those on the Governments "extremely vulnerable" list, ie. who have a medical condition which results in them being specifically vulnerable to Covid-19 and at greater risk of serious illness if they catch it. This list does not consider those disabled people who are vulnerable at this time because they cannot leave their home.
We are putting pressure on the Government to update this list and make provisions for people with M.E. and others with medical conditions that leave them housebound.
In the meantime, we have produced a shopping support resource to share with supermarket staff, highlighting that, as someone with a chronic neurological condition and at increased risk of severe illness from Coronavirus, you need access to priority shopping times. You can print this off or show it on your phone, it will also be on the back page of InterAction which will be with members shortly.
