Post COVID-19 syndrome: What support can patients expect from their GP?

Summary

Many people are experiencing health difficulties for several months after they have been infected with COVID-19. There is work underway to make sure healthcare staff have more information about the longer-term effects of COVID-19 and how to look after these patients safely. This is due to be published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) at the end of this year.

Content

In the meantime, Patient Safety Learning and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has developed the attached short guide to help patients with post COVID-19 syndrome (also known as Long COVID) understand the support they can expect from their GP. 

Patient Safety Learning recognise that some people living with Long COVID strongly prefer this term, rather than the NICE definition Post-Covid-19 syndrome. In our individual publications on this issue we use the term Long COVID. In the case of this joint leaflet with the RCGP, the term Post-Covid-19 syndrome is used as this aligns with the source information this draws on, specifically this guidance to GPs. While we recognise that this is not the preferred terminology for some people, we hope that this leaflet will help provide people living with Long COVID with a brief support guide in the interim period before detailed guidance is produced.

Attachments