Specialist clinics set up to help Long Covid patients
Watch our report by Rachel Hepworth.
Specialist clinics are being set up across the South to treat hundreds of patients suffering from the effects of Long Covid.
It is estimated that one in 10 people who contract Covid-19 experience long-term health problems, even if they were not initially admitted to hospital for the condition.
Now, local NHS providers have opened dozens of specialist clinics. The centres will treat patients and help researchers to understand more about the disease.Lisa Brown has Long Covid, she is undergoing treatment at a specialist clinic in Hampshire run by Southern Health and Solent NHS Trust, albeit virtually online.
She was skiing in Spain in February 2020 when she was hit with suspected Coronavirus. Although she was never officially diagnosed, she needed oxygen, and lived with the tell-tale signs of Long Covid in the months that followed.
The extreme fatigue is just one of a number of symptoms experienced by patients, which can include breathlessness, anxiety, and brain fog.
The patients are referred to the specialist clinics by GPs. The facilities offer psychological help and physical treatment.
It is estimated that 60 000 people are experiencing Long Covid in the UK. Many of them are young, and many were fit and healthy before contracting the condition. Research is continuing into why Long Covid affects some people and not others.
The specialist clinics are run by local NHS Trusts. It is hoped that their research will add to the pool of knowledge about Long Covid, and help patients, like Lisa Brown through the toughest of times.