National Health Service Services for 2 million British struggling with long Covid “terribly inadequate” considering how a lot of people are diagnosed with condition, nurses leaders warned.
Too few specialized clinics to deal with the growing demand for treatment, with just a tiny number of sufferers getting any helpKing’s College of Nursing Care (RCN) said.
Office for according to national statistics last week what number of people in UK suffers with ongoing symptoms of Covid such as fatigue, muscle pain and breath problems doubled in a year from 1 million in May 2021 up to 2 million last month.
The National Health Service has responded to the sharp increase in of long-term Covid patients by setting up clinics for evaluation, diagnosis and treat them and send them on to other services such as cardiology departments for those with heart problems.
But the RCN said that “existing services are grossly inadequate to meet the level of demand”. Warning of “postal lottery” in access take care he has also expressed concern that “diagnosis and treatment vary widely in the UK, with For a long time, Covid was viewed as a physical condition. in some clinics, but mainly as a psychological condition in other”.
Bye England already there were 89 long Covid clinics on last July, in Northern Ireland only one and Wales and Scotland are still not set up them first those.
“FROM over 2 million patients lack specialized services to meet growing demand help patients vary greatly across the country,” said Helen Donovan, RCN specialist. lead for public health.
“Out of 2 million people self-report long Covid, only part knows ofor access to treatment available. In April, only a small part of 4,500 patients were waiting to be examined at the long-term Covid clinic. in England.”
nurses should be a lot more involved in care for long-term Covid patients, given their experience in long-term managementterm conditions such as cancer and diabetes, Donovan added. Clinics usually run pulmonologists who According to her, they are assisted by physiotherapists, and sometimes occupational therapists and psychologists.
Leila Moran, Liberal Democrat MP who chairs are allparty parliamentary group on coronavirus, said: “About 2 million people in UK lives with long Covid and yet government still unable to fully comprehend the enormity of in challenge this state represents people’s livelihood, economy and our public Services.”
The Guardian contacted the Department of Health and social support for answer.
Meanwhile about half of people with Evidence suggests that long-term Covid may be affected by sleep disturbances.
Cynthia Peña Orbea, Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, USA, analyzed data from 962 patients attending the reCOVer Clinic, which provides medical care. for faces with chronic or new Covid symptoms appear at least 28 days after diagnosis, between February 2021 and April 2022. Of these people, 8% reported severe sleep disturbances and 41% reported moderate sleep disturbances.
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People with higher body mass indices (BMI) and anxiety. more likely to be affected while black there were three patients times more most likely experience moderate to severe sleep disturbance, even after adjustment for demography. The findings were presented at the Sleep 2022 meeting. in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Separate research published in brain science in April found that 51% of those entering a long-term Covid clinic in Texas reported sleep disturbance and that poor sleep quality was associated with increased depression, anxiety and post- traumatic stress.
None of the studies were able to find out if anxiety contributed to people’s sleep problems or vice versa – or if the source was other symptoms such as pain. of their sleep problems. “Future work should follow patients to check if sleep, fatigue and mental health symptoms disappear spontaneously with time,” said Sarah Nowakowski of Baylor College. of Medicine in Houston, who led the Texas-based research.
Department of A health spokesman said: “Long Covid is new challenge for all health care systems over in world and UK leading in way on researchtreatment and care”.
They are added: “We support our world-leading scientists with over £50 million to better understand term debilitating effects of Covid and the NHS has set aside £224 million for support people with ongoing symptoms of COVID-19 with over 90 specialized clinics throughout England.
