Long Covid health staff 'abandoned and forgotten'

Healthcare workers with Long Covid say the government needs to do more to support those left with life-changing disabilities since catching the virus.

Nurse Rachel Hext, 37 from Paignton, insisted she caught Covid in her job as a nurse in a small community hospital in Devon.

"We were clapped and called heroes, and now those of us who have been bereaved or disabled by it have been forgotten," she said.

The government said it knew Long Covid could have a debilitating impact on people's physical and mental health, that there was a "range of support for staff" and it was funding research into it.

Mrs Hext is one of a group of healthcare workers with long Covid who have taken their fight to the High Court to try to sue the NHS and other employers for compensation.

The staff, from England and Wales, said they believed they first caught Covid at work during the pandemic and said they were not properly protected from the virus.

She said: "I want acknowledgement and I want support for the people who need it.

"Long Covid is absolutely life-changing. It's devastated us as a family."

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Source: BBC News, 20 March 2025

Related reading on the hub:

• "Forgotten heroes" – the sequel: a blog and resources from David Osborn
• The pandemic – questions around Government governance: a blog from David Osborn
• Healthcare workers with Long Covid: Group litigation