It’s approaching a year since shielding for people who are clinically extremely vulnerable began. Now, there are more than 3.8 million people in England on the shielding list.

People who are shielding are advised to stay at home as much as possible, and to only leave home for medical appointments, exercise, or if it’s essential. The advice also recommends working from home and, where this isn’t possible, not to go to work.

The Office for National Statistics estimated that 35 per cent of clinically extremely vulnerable people report a worsening in their mental health since receiving shielding guidance.

And, behind the policy and the numbers of people on the shielding list, are our own colleagues, many of whom have had to totally transform their lives as well as their work arrangements.

Susan Kerslake (pictured) Librarian and E-Learning Manager, is one of our members of staff who has been shielding and working from home. Her team is responsible for finding information for staff to help them with their patient care. This involves searching databases to get them the right information in the right format, and supporting staff to find the information themselves. This is in addition to running the physical library space. Susan manages our Library and BEST teams.

Discussing how her team adapted, she said: “In the first period of the pandemic, the library was used as a wellbeing hub, so we all worked from home. Now, we staff the library Tuesday and Thursday, and the rest of the time we work from home. However, it’s open all the time for people to come in and use the space.”

Although Susan and her team can carry out their roles effectively at home, she noted that spending time away from work isn’t without challenges: “There is a feeling of guilt; as the manager, I am not coming into the office, whereas some of my team are. I do feel guilty about that, especially before the jabs were rolled out. That was something I had to deal with personally. My team have been very supportive and they have never made me feel like that, which would have made it even tougher.

“Most of my work can be done remotely, and I have often been able to do it quicker. There are no distractions – unless you count my cat!”

Susan’s team has made use of technology to stay in touch. “We have a WhatsApp chat which I update weekly with what everyone is doing. We have a Teams meeting every week just to check in on everyone. We discuss work but mostly it’s “How are you?” or “How is everyone?” And, if they were struggling, they could contact me personally. They are also dealing with issues like caring for older people and children, and travelling on public transport.”

Despite keeping in touch virtually, Susan is honest about the isolation of shielding: “The isolation kicked in worse during this lockdown, as time goes on. It can be silly things like: I need to fill out a form against some paperwork in the office, but I am not in the office. Shielding did end for a while, and I was back for a few weeks and, before the second lockdown, I was able to put things in place and prepare for it.

“Sometimes I find it hard to know when to stop working. While I don’t mind working a bit later if I am I the middle of something, I have to make sure I don’t work at weekends. At the beginning, I was working more and on my laptop all the time. I try and get some fresh air in my garden, or go to the park when it is quiet. You have to be kind to yourself and your team.”

We recently introduced ‘Fancy a Chat?’ which is a virtual social meet up held every Monday at 12noon, particularly to support those working from home or shielding, but all staff can join. Susan went along to one of the first sessions and said: “It’s excellent. It has only just started and it works well. They are really interesting, and you get to know people. You can chat about your own service and publicise it, and you are also networking with teams across the hospital. You can talk about anything; it’s not always work related.”