NHS feels strain as tens of thousands of staff suffer long Covid

[Northerner]

Intense pressures on the already overstretched NHS are being exacerbated by the tens of thousands of health staff who are sick with long Covid, doctors and hospital bosses say.

At least 122,000 NHS personnel have the condition, the Office for National Statistics disclosed in a detailed report that showed 1.1 million people in the UK were affected by the condition. That is more than any other occupational group and ahead of teachers, of whom 114,000 have it.

Patient care is being hit because many of those struggling with long Covid are only able to work part-time, are too unwell to perform their usual duties, or often need time off because they are in pain, exhausted or have “brain fog”.

“Ongoing illness can have a devastating impact on individual doctors, both physically and by leaving them unable to work. Furthermore, it puts a huge strain on the health service, which was already vastly understaffed before the pandemic hit,” said Dr Helena McKeown, the workforce lead at the British Medical Association, which represents doctors.

Strain on NHS as tens of thousands of staff suffer long Covid

ONS says at least 122,000 health service workers have condition, threatening patient care

www.theguardian.com

 

[mikeyB]

Is it because they all worked through the lockdowns without adequate protection while being exposed to a high risk of a heavy viral load without adequate protection, both health workers and teachers forced to work without adequate protection against a heavy viral load? Schools are safe, the government keeps saying. Aye, right.

And I’ve said elsewhere, I don’t believe the numbers. Are doctors issuing sick notes with Long Covid as a diagnosis? A million would mean that most of us know someone who has got it, or at least knows of someone who has it. We all know someone who has had Covid. My nephew is a doctor, he has had Covid and is back at work. My daughter has had Covid, and was ill for a month because of pre existing asthma, though never admitted because, as the medics said, she took steroids early, and is now cheerfully back at work. Where are all these Long Covid patients?

 

[Robin]

Where are all these Long Covid patients?

I know one person who says they have long covid (I say 'says', it is after all what she told me, rather than waving scientific proof in my face, but I have no reason to disbelieve her). Because we live in such a rural backwater where levels have remained low, she is also the only person I have actually met up with who has had Covid, full stop. So that makes it 100%of the people I know!

 

[Thebearcametoo]

The nurse who has been dealing with me has long covid symptoms. She was already part time and has carried on working. (She already has different chronic conditions and is used to adapting her life to her health.) I have friends who have long covid symptoms after mild covid and friends who have long covid symptoms after bad covid. My mum had long covid but seems to be recovering, thankfully. The severity of symptoms varies with some able to continue normal life with modifications and some not able to do very much. As with a lot chronic conditions they are often ‘invisible illnesses’ unless someone volunteers the information. Additionally I have friends who work in the NHS who are dealing with burnout after a year of stress and continued understaffing so losing more staff for any reasons will add to that. Many departments are running only because of the goodwill of staff who continually work above their hours and without breaks. Long covid doesn’t necessarily mean staff are off sick but will add to the pressures already in the system.
The numbers don’t surprise me as the symptoms of long covid are varied in both expression and severity. I suspect eventually the diagnosis of long covid will morph into specific groups of symptoms and become amalgamated with existing conditions like ME/CFS or specific issues with the heart or respiratory system but for now it’s helpful to acknowledge the ongoing issues with covid other than ‘just’ the total number of deaths.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

In a twitter thread I saw this referenced (negatively) https://www.statnews.com/2021/03/22...re-critically-speaking-cautiously-long-covid/

I think the negative reaction it got was a bit unfair. While the author is saying that some of what people are calling Long Covid isn't caused by infection by the virus, he isn't at all dismissing it:

The sad truth is that we are living through a time of incredible trauma, sorrow, and hardship. The loved ones of more than 500,000 Americans who have died of Covid-19 are in mourning. Tens of millions have lost their jobs. This has been a period of prolonged social isolation with no obvious parallel in history. We should expect a surge in both mental anguish and physical suffering that, while connected to the once-in-a-century pandemic, will not always be directly connected to SARS-COV-2 itself.