Warnings that lack of ICU after care for Covid patients is 'disaster' in making

Tushar Das has faced a fight for his life and has the battle scars to prove it.

He spent 60 days in hospital, lying still for weeks. And for every day he spent in ICU - he was losing 2 to 3% of his muscle mass.

It has turned ordinary tasks into extraordinary challenges.

He added: "They had a sit out a chair, just to help expand the lungs, and they had to hoist me out to get into this chair, because my legs would not work.

"Before I could walk 12k steps a day...now just getting out of bed to go to the loo is a real battle."

Every Covid survivor is a living tribute to the team who saw them through their illness, but leaving the ward is very rarely the end of the journey.

98% of ICU Covid patients need physiotherapy.

That is many thousands of people and currently there is no nationally commissioned post ICU rehab service.

It means the life-changing work of care teams like Tushar's are often having to be done out of existing budgets - using whatever resources can be found.

Dr Zudin Puthucheary from the Intensive Care Society told ITV Granada Reports that patients are at risk of the 'postcode lottery', with some areas having home-grown rehabilitation services, and others with little in the way of support.  

The answer? Well, according to Dr Puthucheary, we need the NHS to commission Post-ICU rehabilitation. And he says that needs to happen pretty urgently.

What's being done in the North West?

At the Royal Preston Hospital, they've come up with one way of trying to cope with the unprecedented demand. They've set up a temporary rehab unit - The Avondale Clinic - with 28 beds for post ICU patients.

Staffed by physiotherapists, speech therapists and occupational therapists, the unit gives people time to build up their strength before heading home.

Claire Granato, a physiotherapist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals told us: "Any speciality can refer in to us, and we can also take patients from the community that our partners might flag to us as needing rehabilitation. 

"For a patient it can be the difference between being able to go home, and not being able to go home, maybe needing a care home setting? It can be really simple things like a patient might not need anybody to come in and help them have a wash, they may be able to do that for themselves. It's about quality of life - them being able to return to the living that they had before Covid".

Sean Lonergan was one of the patients we met on the unit.

He told us: "It's absolutely demoralising really. I can't do anything for myself - anything.

"I wish people would take heed of what it's about, because they think it's flu. My god - it's nothing like flu.

"I've no use of my legs, I'm trying to get physio, and they're doing a great job, in two weeks I can walk. I didn't think it could be possible, but they've done a fantastic job."

The Department of Health and Social Care says the pressure on services makes this an incredibly challenging time, but they're investing nearly £52 billion pounds this year in support to meet those needs.

Tushar is expecting a 12 month recovery and there are many more like him.

The aim is to make sure that, having survived the pandemic, we can survive the recovery too.

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