Long-running Covid clinics across the country are closing their doors, leaving desperate patients without vital treatment and feeling “abandoned”, they have claimed.
Clinics dedicated to caring for long Covid patients in Surrey, Croydon, Hertfordshire and Lanarkshire have been closed, The Mail on Sunday has learned.
A service in Devon will close in the New Year, patients have told this newspaper, and we have learned that clinics in Frimley could also be affected.
Now campaigners and doctors speaking to this newspaper say this removal of long Covid provisions will have a devastating impact on the millions suffering from the condition.
“This shows that the NHS and the Government are not interested in long Covid,” said Kent-based GP Dr Stephanie De Giorgio.
Rachel Hext was forced to leave her job as a nurse in 2022 after never recovering from Covid
‘They don’t really see this as a priority despite the large number of people who currently need treatment and the many more who might need it in the future. This is not a niche service – the NHS must accept long Covid as a real and far-reaching problem.
While most people recover from Covid within days or weeks and make a full recovery within three months, for some the symptoms last longer. It is estimated that, as of March 2023, 1.9 million people in the UK were suffering from ongoing problems post-Covid.
Patients report fatigue, difficulty breathing, memory and concentration problems (so-called “brain fog”), muscle and joint pain, dizziness and palpitations, among other things.
For some, these can be so severe that they prevent them from working, going to school, or performing even the most basic daily tasks.
This was the case for Rachel Hext, 36, who was forced to leave her job as a nurse two years ago after contracting Covid and never recovering.
The mother-of-two first fell ill while working in a Covid ward at her hospital, just after returning from maternity leave. Rachel later received regular treatment at her nearest Covid clinic in Torbay, Devon, after being referred by her GP.
These services, launched in November 2020 with a special £10m fund, were designed to be a one-stop shop staffed by a range of specialists who could help address the range of complaints affecting long Covid patients.
But Rachel says her local clinic will close soon. “In the spring, my doctor called me to tell me the clinic was closing in the summer,” he said.
‘He said I could still receive specialist treatment for any condition he had already diagnosed me with.
But he couldn’t answer what would happen with new referrals or how he would get help for any new problems that might arise.’ Rachel said she was later informed that the facility had been granted an extension but would close in the New Year.
When contacted by The Mail on Sunday, NHS Devon denied there were any plans to close its long Covid service, although emails from doctors working at the clinic contradict this.
The 36-year-old first fell ill while working in a Covid ward at her hospital.
The mother-of-two, pictured with her children, says her local clinic in Devon has closed.
Rachel says she fears for other people in her area suffering from the condition if this crucial support is withdrawn.
“There are some people who have a huge number of problems and will not be able to receive proper treatment without dedicated long Covid clinics,” he said.
Long Covid campaigners say the closures are due to funding issues and the fact that fewer people are seeking care from them.
Originally run by NHS England, responsibility for the clinics passed earlier this year to integrated care boards (ICBs), the 42 bodies in England that allocate funding to local health services.
In Scotland, 14 NHS boards perform a similar role. Support groups say that since this change, patients and staff have reported closures and reductions in services. They say key staff are being redeployed or leaving the NHS altogether.
“NHS England deprioritised long Covid by not requiring ICBs to continue running clinics,” said Manchester-based lung expert Dr Binita Kane.
‘They may claim that fewer people are using the services, but I suspect what is really happening is that fewer people are now taking Covid tests, making it harder to get a long-term Covid diagnosis in the future.
‘Long Covid patients who have had it for a while may have improved or, ironically, are considered too severe for treatment. This may make it seem like clinics are less necessary, but there are many more Covid patients who still need help.’
The challenge if all clinics close, Dr Kane added, is that these patients will now have to be absorbed into existing services that are not set up to treat their complex symptoms.
NHS England and the Scottish Government have been contacted for comment.
- Have you been affected by the extended closure of a Covid clinic? Write to health@mailonsunday.co.uk