The Scottish Government has been urged by leading health professional bodies and charities to take action and improve care for people living with 'Long Covid'.
In an open letter published in today’s Times newspaper, health professionals have backed Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland's calls for the Scottish Government to introduce a National Long Covid Support Service - to better support patients living with the devastating effects of the condition.
Other signatories of the letter include Royal College of Nursing Scotland, Queens Nursing Institute Scotland, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Scotland, Scottish Stroke Allied Health Professions Forum and Royal College of Occupational Therapists who all support the need for a structured approach to caring for people living with Long Covid.
READ MORE: Long Covid sufferer, 28, warns students ‘you are not immune’
The letter reads: “People’s lives have been turned upside down by Long Covid. Their stories of feeling alone, invisible and incredibly frustrated at the lack of coordinated care are a call for help that should not be ignored."
They also highlighted Scotland's need for “a structured and consistent approach" to caring for people with the long-term effects of Covid-19, both physical and mental.
"Holistic, truly person-centred care" and "appropriate training" were also demanded, in a bid to ensure that "no one falls through the net."
Long Covid sufferer Brighid Ó Dochartaigh, a 47-year-old geologist from Edinburgh, knows first-hand the devastating impact the condition can have on people’s lives.
“Before Covid, I was healthy and fit - my work often calls for strenuous field work & travel to remote places round the world.
“Now I struggle to walk more than three blocks from home. My GPs are very supportive but admit they don't know enough about Long Covid to know what's causing my symptoms or how long they might last, and there doesn't seem to be any treatment.
“Like most Long Covid sufferers, I'm left to manage this life changing illness at home, alone. No-one can tell us if we'll recover.
"I just want my old life back - to be healthy, able to work, run, swim, visit my friends and family, but I'm scared that won't happen. My employer has been really supportive, but that can't last forever - I don't know what I'll do if I don't get well enough to be able to work again.”
Jane-Claire Judson, Chief Executive of Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland, said:
“No one should fight something like Long Covid alone. But that is exactly what's happening across Scotland right now.
"In England the NHS are investing in specific clinics, while here we still have people reduced to tears trying to get help.
"We can and must do better than this."
READ MORE: Long Covid sufferers terrified they 'won't get their lives back'
She added: “Long Covid could happen to any one of us. One day you could be enjoying life and then you get Covid and everything changes. Months after a Covid infection, people who were once healthy are now struggling to walk to the end of their road or are almost bed bound. They desperately need help but say they feel abandoned, misunderstood and almost invisible.
“It can’t be right that people are facing an exhausting fight to get help on top of everything else they are going through.
“We know that the NHS is under pressure but by working with us there is a way forward. We need to see action from the Scottish Government to establish a National Long Covid Support Service which would bring the NHS and charities together to provide care for people with Long Covid.
“We need to see specialist one-to-one clinics, based on the model adopted in England and we must help people to manage the impact of Long Covid on their lives and mental wellbeing. It is vital that everyone gets the support they need to rebuild their lives.”
Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland yesterday launched a campaign urging people to take action by emailing their MSPs to join the charities Long Covid Care Now Campaign.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are actively supporting the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), which is working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Royal College of GPs to develop a rapid clinical guideline on the persistent effects of COVID-19.
“This guideline, expected to be published before the end of the year, will address a formal definition of the disease, how to identify ongoing symptoms and a definition of best practice investigation and treatment options to support the management of the condition.
“Our NHS is delivering care tailored to the individual needs of people experiencing longer term symptoms of COVID-19 infection, across a wide range of specialisms, but this is a developing area of clinical understanding, which will drive our response.
“The guideline work and our deepening understanding of the symptoms and impact of long COVID-19 will help our NHS tailor the holistic diagnosis and treatment patients need.
“Additionally, we have launched a call for applied research proposals designed to improve understanding of the longer term effects of COVID-19 on physical and mental health and wellbeing in Scotland, and research with the aim of developing effective clinical interventions to support recovery and rehabilitation from COVID-19.”
You can find out more here.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here