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People suffering from ‘prolonged Covid’ symptoms will be offered help at specialist NHS clinics in England as part of a £ 10 million five-part package of measures to boost support for patients struggling to overcome the virus.
Devon and Cornwall are part of the southwestern NHS region, which also includes Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire. Where in the Southwest the new clinics will be located has not yet been announced.
However, they will have respiratory consultants, physical therapists, other specialists and GPs to help evaluate, diagnose, and treat COVID-19 coronavirus patients who have reported long-lasting symptoms ranging from dyspnea, chronic fatigue, “brain fog. “, anxiety and stress.
Mounting medical evidence and patient testimony show that a small but significant minority of people who contract Covid cannot shake off the effects of the virus months after initially becoming ill. Some estimates suggest that 10% of Covid patients may continue to experience symptoms more than three weeks after infection, and perhaps 60,000 people could suffer long Covid symptoms after more than three months.
Speaking at the NHS Provider Conference today (Wednesday), NHS Executive Director Sir Simon Stevens will announce that £ 10 million will be invested this year in additional local funding to help drive and designate Long Covid clinics in all areas of England, to complement existing primary, community and rehabilitation care.
Sir Simon said the new network of clinics will be a central element in a five-part package of measures to boost NHS support for Long Covid patients:
- New guidance commissioned by NHS England from NICE in late October on Long Covid medical ‘case definition’. This will include patients who have had Covid and who have not had a hospital admission or prior positive test. It will be followed by evidence-based NICE clinical guidelines in November on the support that Long Covid patients should receive, allowing NHS doctors, therapists and staff to provide a clear and personalized treatment plan. This will include educational materials for GPs and other healthcare professionals to help them refer and direct patients to appropriate support.
- ‘Your Covid Recovery’: an online rehabilitation service to provide personalized support to patients. More than 100,000 people have used the online center since its launch in July, which provides people with general information and advice on living with Covid for a long time. Phase 2 of the digital platform being developed by the University of Leicester this fall will allow people to access a personalized rehabilitation plan. This will allow patients to set goals for their physical and mental health, provide peer support through social community forums, offer a ‘ask the expert’ facility for patients to contact their local rehabilitation service, and allow have patients monitored by your local staff. rehab teams to make sure they are up to date with your care. This service will be available to anyone suffering from symptoms likely to be due to COVID-19, regardless of their location or whether they have spent time in the hospital. Most likely, patients access the service through their GP, but could also be referred through another healthcare professional after assessment.
- Designated Long Covid Clinics, as announced today. This will imply that each part of the country designates specialized one-stop services in accordance with an agreed national specification. Post-covid services will provide joint care for physical and mental health, and patients will have access to:
– A physical evaluation, which will include diagnostic tests, to identify possible chronic health problems.
– Cognitive evaluation, to evaluate possible memory, attention and concentration problems.
– A psychological evaluation, to see if someone potentially suffers from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, or another mental health condition.
Patients may also be referred from designated clinics to specialty lung disease services, sleep clinics, cardiac services, rehabilitation services, or posted to IAPT and other mental health services. - NIHR-funded research on protracted Covid that is working with 10,000 patients to better understand the condition and refine appropriate treatment.
- The NHS support will be overseen by a new NHS England Long Covid task force that will include Covid patients, medical specialists and researchers.
NHS Executive Director Sir Simon Stevens said: “While this is a relatively new virus, we are learning more about Covid with each passing week. It is now clear that Long Covid can have a major impact on the lives of a significant minority of patients weeks or months after contracting the virus. So just as the NHS quickly launched specialized hospital care for acutely ill Covid patients at the onset of the pandemic, we must now respond sensitively and effectively to these new patient needs. “
Professor Chris Brightling, Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Respiratory Consultant Physician at the University of Leicester and UHL NHS Trust, said: “After Covid-19 infection, some people have persistent and debilitating symptoms including fatigue and breathlessness known as Covid. dragged on. Victims need a coordinated approach to their care and rehabilitation, so this proposed plan is very welcome.
“Long-term Covid research studies are essential to understand the reasons for the varying consequences of the disease, identify those at risk, and test new treatments.”
The new services will follow the launch of the long-running Covid clinic at University College London Hospital earlier this summer, where they have treated more than 900 people with prolonged Covid symptoms, including those who were not admitted to hospital with the disease. UCLH patients can also receive the cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET), a 40-minute test that includes patients gradually exercising on an upright bike and breathing into a mouthpiece to assess lung strength.
UCLH Executive Director Professor Marcel Levi said: “UCLH’s post-covid clinic has seen 900 patients since mid-May. We support movements to increase access for growing groups of patients with post-Covid-19 symptoms and efforts to treat and rehabilitate patients who are often young and their quality of life has been seriously affected. There is a growing need to understand and provide access to care, especially when, like a new illness, many struggle to access adequate care through traditional routes. ”
In response to the announcement, LongcovidSOS’s Ondine Sherwood said: “LongCovidSOS welcomes this announcement from NHS England. We believe that multidisciplinary clinics are essential for the evaluation, treatment and rehabilitation of the large number of people still suffering from the effects of Covid-19. We hope that NICE’s clinical guidance will ensure that the necessary referral pathways are established and that general practitioners are trained to properly treat patients with long-term Covid. ”
Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London and Principal Investigator for the ZOE KCL COVID Symptom Study app, said: “We are pleased that the need to help those with Covid for a long time has been recognized. Using clinical data from more than four million people who downloaded the COVID Symptom Study app administered by ZOE and KCL, we have a unique insight into the long-term problems suffered by non-hospital COVID-19 patients. Our data shows us that more than one in 10 still have problems a month and around one in 50 still suffer after three months. Long-term covid sufferers experience a wide range of symptoms, including up to 20 different problems and not just the three “classic” symptoms used for diagnosis. This tells us that it is a multisystemic disease that requires a multidisciplinary approach to treatment.
“The COVID Symptom Study will work closely with the RCGP to provide educational materials on all symptoms. There are plans to provide an early assessment of those at high risk for prolonged covid and severe illness through the app. We will also provide the NHS England with better data to the public on this new disease and will work to identify volunteers for early intervention trials. We want to encourage everyone to download and use the COVID Symptom Study app to continue providing the NHS with vital information about this mysterious but devastating disease. “
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