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Hundreds of thousands who survived the virus still have side-effects that range from loss of smell to chronic fatigue. "It started with a mild sore throat. I was in Devon at the beginning of the lockdown, and because I hadn’t been on a cruise ship, gone skiing in Italy or partying with the crowds at Cheltenham races, I didn’t think it could be COVID-19. Then I developed sinusitis. My GP was practical: “This is not a symptom of the virus,” he emailed me. But my sense of smell had disappeared. At first this wasn’t a sign but six months later, I still can’t tell the difference between the smell of an overripe banana or lavender. I can distinguish petrol but not gas, dog mess but not roses, bacon but not freshly cut grass. Everything else smells of burnt condensed milk." Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 23 September 2020

The government and NHS England appear unable to identify units set up to treat ‘long covid’, contrary to a claim by Matt Hancock in Parliament that the NHS had ‘set up clinics and announced them in July’. There are growing calls for wider services to support people who have had COVID-19 and continue to suffer serious follow-up illness for weeks or months. Hospitals run follow-up clinics for those who were previously admitted with the virus, but these are not generally open to those who were never admitted. Earlier this month the health secretary told the Commons health committee: “The NHS set up long covid clinics and announced them in July and I am concerned by reports from Royal College of General Practitioners that not all GPs know how to get into those services.” Asked by HSJ for details, DHSC and NHS England declined to comment on how many clinics had been set up to date, where they were located, how they were funded or how many more clinics were expected to be “rolled out”. However, two charities and support groups — Patient Safety Learning and the Long Covid Support Group — told HSJ they were not aware of dedicated long covid clinics for community patients. An enquiry from Patient Safety Learning to NHS England has not been answered. The number of people affected by long covid is unclear due to a lack of research but there are suggestions it could be half a million or more. Symptoms can include fatigue, sleeplessness, night-time hypoxia, “brain fog” and cardiac problems. It appears to affect more people who were not hospitalised with coronavirus than those who were were. There is some evidence that small clinics have been set up locally on a piecemeal basis, without national funding. HSJ has only been able to identify only one genuine “long covid clinics” open to those who have never been in hospital with covid. Trisha Greenhalgh, an Oxford University professor of primary care health sciences who has interviewed around 100 long covid sufferers, told HSJ: “Nobody I have interviewed had been seen in a long covid clinic but there is an awful lot of people who would like to be referred and who sound like the need to be but they haven’t.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 23 September 2020 Read the letter Patient Safety Learning sent to NHS England hub Community thread - Long Covid: Where are these clinics?

'Long Covid' is leaving people with so-called ‘brain fog’ for months after their initial recovery, NHS experts have revealed. Dr Michael Beckles, consultant respiratory and general physician at The Wellington Hospital, and the Royal Free NHS Foundation, said he has seen a number of patients suffering from ongoing effects of the disease. He said the main symptom being reported is breathlessness, with patients also describing a brain fog. Dr Beckles said: "I'm seeing more and more patients who have had Covid-19 infection confirmed in the laboratory and on X-ray, who have cleared the infection, and are now still presenting with persistent symptoms. "Some of those symptoms are respiratory, such as breathlessness, chronic cough. "And some have other symptoms such as what the patients describe as brain fog, and I understand that to be a difficulty in concentration." "Some still have loss of sense of taste or smell." He added that it can be frustrating for patients because investigations after the infection can be normal, yet the symptoms persist. Dr Beckles is part of a team of specialists at the new post-COVID-19 rehabilitation unit at The Wellington Hospital. Read full story Source: The Telegraph, 21 September 2020

Patients who receive good perioperative care can have fewer complications after surgery, shorter hospital stays, and quicker recovery times, shows a large review of research. The Centre for Perioperative Care, a partnership between the Royal College of Anaesthetists, other medical and nursing royal colleges, and NHS England, reviewed 27 382 articles published between 2000 and 2020 to understand the evidence about perioperative care, eventually focusing on 348 suitable studies. An estimated 10 million or so people have surgery in the NHS in the UK each year, with elective surgery costing £16bn a year. A perioperative approach can increase how prepared and empowered people feel before and after surgery. This can reduce complications and the amount of time that people stay in hospital after surgery, meaning that people feel better sooner and are able to resume their day-to-day life. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 17 September 2020

Thousands of stroke patients have suffered avoidable disability because NHS care for them was disrupted during the pandemic, a report claims. Many people who had just had a stroke found it harder to obtain clot-busting drugs or undergo surgery to remove a blood clot from their brain, both of which need to happen quickly. Rehabilitation services, which are vital to help reduce the impact of a stroke, also stopped working normally as the NHS focused on Covid, the Stroke Association said. It is concerned “many could lose out on the opportunity to make their best possible recovery”. Juliet Bouverie, the charity’s chief executive, said: “Strokes didn’t stop because of the pandemic. Despite the tireless efforts of frontline clinicians who have gone to herculean efforts to maintain services under extremely difficult conditions, some treatments still became unavailable and most stroke aftercare ground to a halt. This means more stroke survivors are now living with avoidable, unnecessary disability.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 17 September 2020

Tens of thousands of people may require kidney dialysis or transplants because of coronavirus, according to experts who warn the long-term effects of Covid are causing an “epidemic in primary care”. Up to 90% of coronavirus patients admitted to hospital may still experience symptoms two to three months later – from breathlessness to joint pain, fatigue and chest pain – scientists told the Lords science and technology committee on Tuesday. Donal O’Donoghue, a consultant renal physician at Salford Royal NHS trust, said damage to the kidneys was of major concern. It is believed the virus may attack the organ directly, he said, while the kidneys could also be injured by body-wide inflammation caused by the virus. “Normally we see maybe 20% of people that go on to intensive care unit need to have a form of dialysis. During Covid it was up to 40% – and 85% of people had some degree of kidney injury,” he said. “No doubt that is happening out in the community as well, probably to a lesser extent.” Tom Solomon, professor of neurology at the University of Liverpool, told the committee more needed to be done to support Covid survivors. “[GPs] are seeing lots of patients who are left over with problems from their Covid and they need to be able to refer them to get help in understanding what is going on,” he said, adding: “This is really the current epidemic in primary care.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 15 September 2020

The government has now officially recognised the long-term health implications some people can suffer after contracting coronavirus. Lung inflammation, gastrointestinal disturbance, and fatigue are just some of the listed long-term health effects published by Public Health England. But it’s no new revelation - as campaigners made up of politicians, expert clinicians and sufferers have fought hard over the past few months to bring what has become known as ‘long covid’ into the public domain. One of them is Jo Platt, former Labour MP for Leigh, who says the virus hit her ‘like a train’ in the week before lockdown in March - when it wasn’t possible to get a test. She's been left with symptoms months on - although recently tested negative twice for COVID-19. “It was like a train hitting me, like a switch, I felt so unwell for two days. I had general dizziness, fatigue but nothing you could pinpoint. I didn’t have a cough or a temperature, although I felt hot; had gastric trouble; shortness of breath; then it eased and I was okay and thought ‘thank goodness. It must have just been mild’,” Jo said. Two days later the symptoms came back, but that spell of illness lasted for two weeks. Jo said she couldn’t get out of bed, suffered intense headaches and a burning sensation in her lungs, was unable to concentrate and couldn’t read. “I’m not normally an anxious person, but then came anxiety", she said. "I felt a real sense of dread, a heightened pending sense of doom. It continued on and off for months, and particularly worsened at the weekend. The 48-year-old got in touch with her GP who said anxiety was bringing the symptoms on. It wasn’t until a week later when Jo read an article by Professor Paul Garner, of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, who talked about his fight with symptoms, that she realised she wasn't alone. “Everything he was saying was the same as what I was going through. I cried and cried. It was all validated. Then the journey began of finding other people - which does make it feel better,” said the mum-of-three. Prof Garner has described coronavirus as a 'very bizarre disease' that left him feeling 'repeatedly battered the first two months' and then experiencing lesser episodes in the subsequent four months with continual fatigue. “Navigating help is really difficult,” he said in a BMJ webinar. With the help of Jo's connections in parliament, Prof Garner, and meetings with the shadow cabinet health team, a support group for long covid sufferers has been formed, which has 20,000 members. They’re calling for recognition, which they finally got from the government on 7 September 7, research and rehab. Matt Hancock said at the Health and Social Care Committee the following day: “The long-term impacts of covid are not very strongly correlated with severity of the initial illness. While we have a significant amount of work going into supporting those who come out of hospital, this is not just about people hospitalised. “In fact, this is especially relevant for now with the latest rise largely among young people, it doesn't matter how serious your infection was the first time, the impact of long covid can be really debilitating for a long period of time, no matter if your initial illness wasn't all that severe.” The Health Secretary, when questioned on calls by the Royal College of GPs for covid clinics, said the NHS has set up clinics, but he is ‘concerned’ that not all GPs know how to ensure people know how to get into those services. “That’s something I am sure we can resolve,” he added. Read full story Source: Manchester Evening News, 13 September 2020

PRESS RELEASE (London, UK, 11 September) – The charity Patient Safety Learning are calling on the NHS to publish details of post-COVID support clinics and clarify how these can be accessed by thousands of ‘Long COVID’ patients. Patient Safety Learning has written to Sir Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of the NHS, calling on him to take steps to publicise the locations and details of these services. This follows Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, expressing concerns in the Health and Social Care Select Committee on Tuesday that not all GPs know how to access these services. Helen Hughes, Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning, said: “We have heard from many Long COVID patients that they are not clear on the location of these clinics, what services they offer and who is eligible for support. Some patients have been advised by their GP that there are no post-COVID clinics available within their area. Though the NHS launched the ‘Your COVID Recovery’ online portal for patients recovering from COVID, there is no clear indication of how the clinics fit into this and how patients can access the support they need.” Long COVID patients are those with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 who continue to struggle with prolonged, debilitating and sometimes severe symptoms months later. In their letter, the charity has identified a series of steps needed to provide greater clarity for these patients, including: Publishing a list of all existing post-COVID clinics and contact details. Confirming whether these clinics are accessed by referral from your GP or self-referral. If by GP referral, publish the guidance issued to GPs on this process. Confirming who is eligible for these services, whether they are restricted to those hospitalised by COVID-19 or open to those who are managing their symptoms at home. Confirm what services are available from these clinics. Specifically, whether they can help patients access clinical investigations, as well as treatment and rehabilitation. Clarify whether these services are available to all patients or only those who have had a confirmed positive test for COVID-19. Notes to editors: Patient Safety Learning is a charity, which helps transform safety in health and social care, creating a world where patients are free from harm. We identify the critical factors that affect patient safety and analyse the systemic reasons they fail. We use what we learn to envision safer care. We recommend how to get there. Then we act to help make it happen. For more information: www.patientsafetylearning.org In the Health and Social Care Select Committee on Tuesday 8 September 2020, Matt Hancock commented that “The NHS set up Long COVID clinics and announced them in July. I am concerned by reports this morning from the Royal College of GPs that not all GPs know how to ensure that people can get into those services. That is something I will take up with the NHS and that I am sure we will be able to resolve.” The full transcript can be found here. Patient Safety Learning’s full letter to Sir Simon Stevens can be found here. Patient Safety Learning have previously set out patient safety concerns for Long COVID patients, outlining these issues in more detail. Read more here.

On Christmas Day, Gail Jackson’s 16-year-old daughter said she was in so much pain she thought she would die. Liliana had been briefly admitted to hospital with Covid in September. Her symptoms never went away and, as time went on, new ones had emerged. “For months she had a relentless, agonising headache, nausea, tinnitus, fatigue and insomnia, but the worst thing was the agonising nerve pain,” said Jackson. “I couldn’t even touch her without her screaming in pain.” On Christmas morning, Jackson drove to hospital with her daughter vomiting from pain in the passenger seat. When they got to the hospital, however, the A&E doctor said there was no such thing as long Covid in children. “He said she just needed to go home and get on with her life,” Jackson said. “It was jaw-dropping.” It is extremely rare for children and young people to contract severe Covid, but recent research has shown that even mild or asymptomatic infection can lead to long Covid in children. A study at UCL is investigating long Covid in 11- to 17-year-olds who were not hospitalised with the disease. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended more research to produce guidance on how children and young people are affected and how they can be treated. However, there is no case definition of long Covid in children and young people in the way there is in adults. Read full story Source: The Independent, 3 May 2021

More than 80 new clinics to assess patients suffering with symptoms of Long Covid are to be opened by the NHS by the end of this month with an extra investment of £24m. NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said the health service must “continue to expand its offer for Long Covid” adding there will be even more funding earmarked for the problem in the future. Speaking at the Health Service Journal’s leadership congress on Wednesday, Sir Simon said: “We have 69 clinics identified last year and we will have 83 long Covid clinics in place by the end of this month, so a significant expansion there. “We will be backing that with at least £24 million revenue funding going into this New Year, up from the £10 million announced last year, and there will be more to come on the back of that as well.” Recent estimates by the Office for National Statistics found more than a million people could be experiencing long Covid beyond four weeks with 674,000 people saying it was affecting their day to day lives. Almost 200,000 people have said their ability to carry out normal activities has been severely limited by the condition. Read full story Source: The Independent, 14 April 2021

Health coach Jasmine Hayer had to give up her life in London and move back in with her parents after catching Covid. Now she is focused on a twin goal - battling back to health while helping others get the right treatment for Long Covid. Dr William Man, the head of the Royal Brompton Hospital's chest clinic, started treating her in December, as part of a clinic seeing 100 severe long Covid cases in the UK. Jasmine describes it as a "complete game changer". However, she worries that other so-called "long haulers" are not getting the help they need because they face "such a battle" to be taken seriously. She decided to start a blog to document her symptoms and wants to share her story as widely as possible in the hope of helping others. "I've had messages from around the world and I was so happy to hear that one girl has shown her doctor my blog and he is giving her more tests as a result," she says. "I know how lonely and scary it is when you are fighting to be believed. You are literally on your own." Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 April 2021

More than one million people in the UK are suffering from signs of Long Covid, the Office for National Statistics has said. This is a significant increase in previous estimates of persistent and debilitating symptoms and follows the January surge in coronavirus infections across the UK. The ONS said a total of 1.1 million people in the UK reported experiencing Long Covid symptoms lasting beyond four weeks after infection with COVID-19 that were not explained any something else. Long Covid can include chronic fatigue, shortness of breath, so called ‘brain fog’ as well as serious organ damage to the kidneys, heart and lungs. The ONS found the symptoms were impacting on the day to day lives of 674,000 people, with almost 200,000 people reporting their ability to carry out normal activities had been severely limited. Of those reporting symptoms, almost 700,000 reported having a Covid infection in the previous three months, but 70,000 said it was over a year since their infection. Read full story Source: The Independent, 1 April 2021

The NHS should start off the next financial year focusing on staff recovery and postpone ratcheting up elective recovery efforts and other long-term priorities until the second quarter, senior figures have warned. One trust chief executive said if there is an expectation from the centre that “April is the start point [for elective recovery], that will cause a massive problem”. It comes with the government and NHS England still apparently locked in negotiation over NHS funding for the financial year from 1 April, and deciding what the NHS will be asked to deliver. The CEO said: “It’s hard to think that 1 April signals a new year for the NHS. [There needs to be] a gradual decompression of our staff over the next three months as the country opens up. “If the planning guidance gets announced in the next couple of weeks with an expectation that April is the start point, that will cause a massive problem. Staff have not recovered, the vaccine programme is still ongoing, [and] there are still covid patients in all of our beds.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 18 March 2021

Lasting effects of infection from coronavirus are more common in women and children than expected, with at least 10% of people infected suffering persistent symptoms for months, a new review has found. Experts at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) examined more than 300 separate scientific studies for the analysis. It found many patients reported struggling to access testing and help from the NHS to treat their symptoms, which varied between patients, suggesting long Covid is a group of four possible syndromes affecting patients differently. The report said: “Long Covid appears to be more frequent in women and in young people (including children) than might have been expected,” adding other sufferers could be experiencing an active disease, impacting on their organs and causing debilitating symptoms that would need ongoing treatment. In some patients, the effects included neurological changes in their brains while others showed signs of blood clotting and inflammation. Other patients reported anxiety, fatigue and damage to their lungs and heart. It also warned there was evidence some long Covid patients could actually be getting worse, underlining the need to invest in services that will be needed to cope with what could be a long term problem. Read full story Source: The Independent, 16 March 2021

Joanna Herman, a consultant in infectious diseases, had high hopes when Boris Johnson announced £10m for long Covid clinics. Five months on, she is yet to be referred to one. "Despite the government recently giving £18.5m research funding for the disease, it feels as though all focus is now on the vaccine and the lifting of lockdown, while those living with long Covid have been largely forgotten," says Joanna. Her initial illness was, by definition, a mild case of Covid: no hospital admission and no risk factors for severe disease. Months later she found herself experiencing crashing post-exertional fatigue, sporadic chest pains and a brain that felt it was only half functioning. And she is not alone. According to a study published last September from researchers at King’s College London, 60,000 people in the UK were likely to have been suffering from long Covid. The actual number is now probably far higher. There are now 69 long Covid clinics up and running across the country, according to the NHS England website. Yet Joanna has not been able to access one – and neither have others she knows with long Covid. Joanna asked doctors in her field what was happening with long Covid clinics in their local areas. She contacted 18 infectious disease colleagues based in teaching hospitals around the country. Of the 16 who responded, 6 had formal long Covid clinics. Some said that provision for the disease was woefully inadequate, while others reported they only saw only patients who had been admitted to hospital with acute COVID-19. In her own local teaching hospital, funding for long Covid patients is scattered across various departments and there is no dedicated team for these patients. "...it feels as though many long-haulers remain in a post-viral sea, looking for a mooring in the hope that something can be offered. We’ve known about this disease since last summer, and it has been officially recognised since October, but we’re only just starting to understand how to support those living with it" Read full story Source: The Guardian, 10 March 2021

Sufferers say they have had little specialist help despite NHS England setting up dedicated clinics. “It’s not that I feel I have been abandoned, I think that is perfectly obvious,” says Rachel Pope. “If you speak to any long Covid patient, they have been abandoned.” Until exactly a year ago – 5 March 2020 – Pope was “an incredibly fit woman”. A senior lecturer in European prehistory at the University of Liverpool, her work and lifestyle were very active. But after falling ill to Covid, she spent four months unable to walk, then three more when she could manage little more than “a sort of shuffle”. She still has a host of symptoms, “but the most debilitating is the fact that I still can’t do more than 2,000 steps in a day. Until a few weeks ago, I was still choking every day. There’s a lot of nasty stuff that [long Covid sufferers] are living with, without treatment. “It’s not a great situation to be in. I mean, we didn’t die. But this isn’t exactly living either.” A year into the pandemic, accounts such as Pope’s have become dispiritingly familiar, as the experiences of the many thousands who have struggled for months with long Covid, often alone and unsupported, are emerging. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 March 2021

A leading doctor has said the NHS should expect to treat up to a million people for long Covid in the aftermath of the pandemic. Long Covid affects about 1 in 10 people of any age infected with coronavirus, and sufferers can experience symptoms including breathlessness, chronic fatigue, brain fog, anxiety and stress for several months after contracting COVID-19. The likelihood of experiencing long-term symptoms does not appear to be linked to the severity of the initial virus and people with mild symptoms at first can still have debilitating long Covid. The absence of long Covid registers makes it difficult to measure the scale of the problem, and major studies into the condition are ongoing in an attempt to identify causes and potential treatments. But one of Britain’s leading doctors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, estimates that about a million people will need care for long Covid as the NHS recovers from the effects of the pandemic. “Although officially about 4 million people have had Covid, in reality, it’s about 8 million or 9 million,” the anonymous doctor told The Guardian. “If 10% of those people have got something, then it could be almost a million people, and that’s enormous.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 7 March 2021

Some 1 in 10 people still experience persistent ill health 12 weeks after having COVID-19, termed “long COVID” or post-COVID conditions. A new policy brief from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies documents responses to post-COVID conditions in different countries of the WHO European Region and looks at how sufferers, including medical professionals, are driving some of those responses. Written for decision-makers, this brief summarises what is known about the conditions, who and how many people suffer from them, diagnosis and treatment, and how countries are addressing the issue. Commenting on long COVID, WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge said, “COVID-19 has caused a great deal of suffering among people across the Region, with reports of long COVID an extra cause for concern. It’s important that patients reporting with symptoms of long COVID are included as part of the COVID-19 response to mitigate some of the longer-term health impacts of the pandemic. This policy brief makes clear the need for policy-makers to take the lead on this issue.” Read full story Source: WHO, 25 February 2021

One in five people hospitalised with COVID-19 experienced hair loss within six months of first being infected with the virus, a cohort study of patients found. A team of Chinese experts looking into the long-term health consequences of the disease surveyed patients who had been discharged from Jin Yin-tan Hospital in Wuhan last year. Of the 1,655 people who took part 359 (22%) reported losing hair. Fatigue or muscle weakness, difficulty sleeping, smell disorder, anxiety and depression were some of the other most commonly reported symptoms, with a higher percentage of these reported among women. The long-term consequences of Covid-19 after six months remained "largely unclear", the study concluded. Read full story Source: The Independent, 23 February 2021

Today is an anniversary that George Hencken never imagined. It is exactly one year since she caught COVID-19. But unlike most people who have suffered from the disease, she remains ill. “It’s a year since I’ve felt like myself,” she said. “It’s a year since my life as I knew it came to an end. And I don’t know if I’m going to get it back again.” Long Covid doesn’t quite describe the depths of her fatigue. “It’s not tiredness. It’s like having jet lag and a hangover. It feels like I’ve been poisoned,” she said. The problem for Hencken and the thousands still suffering from the virus months later is that long Covid doesn’t describe much at all. The umbrella term covers people who are breathless and fatigued, or who have brain fog, headaches and tingling arms, or who have chest pains and heart palpitations, or all of those and dozens more symptoms besides. Support groups such as LongCovidSOS have been fighting hard for the condition to be recognised and taken seriously – sufferers say they feel disbelieved, and doctors initially had little information, support or even funding. Last week the government announced £18.5m through the National Institute for Health Research to fund four major studies attempting to understand exactly what long Covid means, why it affects so many apparently healthy people, and how they can be helped. Research by University College London will track the health of 60,000 people, including people with long Covid and a control group who will wear a Fitbit-style wristband to measure heart rate, breathing and exercise levels. The aim is to chart and identify clusters of symptoms, Professor Nishi Chaturvedi said. “My sense is that the multiplicity of symptoms that people are reporting suggests to me and many others that it’s not one thing, but several syndromes. We’re not even at the starting point yet of knowing what it is,” she said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 February 2021

Boris Johnson is being urged to launch a compensation scheme for frontline workers who are suffering from the long-term effects of coronavirus. The all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus said the prime minister should recognise long Covid as an occupational disease, saying some sufferers have found it hard to return to work. A letter, signed by more than 60 MPs and peers, has been sent to Johnson. Layla Moran, the APPG’s chair, said: “Long Covid is the hidden health crisis of the pandemic, and it is likely to have an enormous impact on society for many years to come. “When it comes to frontline NHS, care and key workers, they were specifically asked to go to work and save lives while everyone else was asked to stay at home." “They were exposed to an increased level of risk of catching the virus, often without adequate levels of PPE.” The group wants the government to follow France, Germany, Belgium and Denmark, which have formally recognised Covid as an “occupational disease”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 February 2021

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries to prioritise rehabilitation for the medium and long term consequences of covid-19 and to gather information on “long covid” more systematically. WHO has produced a standardised form to report clinical data from individual patients after hospital discharge or after their acute illness to examine the medium and long term consequences of COVID-19.1 It has also set up technical working groups to build a consensus on the clinical description of what WHO now calls “the post-covid-19 condition” and to define research priorities. Speaking at the first of a series of seminars, WHO’s director general, Tedros Ghebreyesus, highlighted the “three Rs”—recognition, research, and rehabilitation. Recognition of the post-covid-19 condition was now increasing, he said, but still not enough research was carried out. He added that countries needed to show commitment to including rehabilitation as part of their healthcare service. “Long covid has an impact on the individual, on society, and on the economy,” he warned. Read full story Source: BMJ, 10 February 2021

Tens of thousands of coronavirus survivors needing long-term care are heaping pressure on Britain’s stretched community services, threatening a crisis that experts warn could dwarf that seen in hospitals over the past 12 months. As many as 100,000 intensive care patients, including up to 15,000 Covid-19 survivors, will need long-term community nursing care after being discharged from hospitals during the past 12 months, The Independent has been told. This will be on top of an as yet unknown number of Covid patients from the 350,000 treated on general wards since the pandemic began, as well as tens of thousands of people who were sick without going to hospital but have been left with debilitating symptoms of long Covid. Labour’s shadow health minister Liz Kendall warned: “There will be huge pressures on community services as people who need long-term support are discharged back into their own homes. “Ministers have got to put in place a proper workforce strategy for the NHS and community care otherwise we will see people struggling to recover and the burden of care could also fall on their families." “This is one of the long-term consequences of Covid that we haven’t begun to even think through yet.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 14 February 2021

The MP leading an investigation into coronavirus fears long Covid could cost the UK around £2.5 billion a year. Layla Moran believes the emerging crisis is comparable to the impact rheumatoid arthritis has on the health service, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to be dealing with the condition for months. The ONS says around one in ten people who test positive will go on to develop long Covid, a catch all term to describe a host of ongoing symptoms in coronavirus patients. More than 1.7 million COVID-19 infections have been reported since Christmas Day in the UK. Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, Ms Moran – who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on coronavirus, said: "The amount of money that we are expecting to spend long term on long Covid could be similar to rheumatoid arthritis. How many people know someone with rheumatoid arthritis? It is going to be higher for long Covid." Read full story Source: The Metro, 10 February 2021

One in three Covid patients put on a ventilator experience extensive symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to research, which adds to mounting evidence of the virus’s impact on mental health. The study of 13,049 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus, by Imperial College London and the University of Southampton, found that one in five who were admitted to hospital but did not require a ventilator also experienced extensive symptoms of PTSD. The most common PTSD symptom experienced by COVID-19 patients was intrusive images, sometimes known as flashbacks. Examples of these could be images of the intensive care unit (ICU) environment, ICU doctors wearing full personal protective equipment or other patients in the ICU. The study, published in the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ BJPsych Open, on Tuesday, found lower levels of extensive symptoms of PTSD for patients given medical help at home (approximately one in six) and patients who required no help at home but experienced breathing problems (one in ten). Dr Adam Hampshire, from Imperial College London, said: “We can see that the pandemic is likely to be having an acute and lasting impact, including for a significant proportion of patients who remained at home with respiratory problems and received no medical help. This evidence could be important for informing future therapy and reducing the long-term health burden of this disease.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 February 2021