UK: NHS England Long Covid Plans

Moved post

Whatever that board does.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1544983679293968384

 

The doc actually says at section 8. summary box: https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/documents/long-covid-the-nhs-plan-for-2021-22/#equity

"Building on the invaluable input to date of patient advocacy groups, six Patient and Public Voice Partners have been appointed to work with the Long COVID programme from May 2021."

The term "board" used by the twitter author seems a general rather than specific description. So the appointment is either a replacement or an addition, Sarah Barley-McMullen describes herself as an
'Inclusion and Belonging specialist', with a job link out to https://www.derby.ac.uk/departments/health-social-care/

 

Well as we all know, parts of this are out of date!

"Supporting NHS staff with Long COVID
Feedback from the Post-COVID Assessment Clinics suggests that a significant proportion of those accessing them are healthcare staff and ONS data shows high prevalence rates of Long COVID among health and social care workers compared to those working in other sectors. Healthcare staff may have been disproportionately affected by Long COVID and it is important that the NHS role models its approach as a responsible and supportive employer and takes care of staff who have worked so hard throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

A comprehensive package for health and wellbeing has been put in place to support NHS staff as part of NHS recovery planning:

• 40 mental health hubs have been established to give staff rapid access to the care pathway.
• Enhanced occupational health and wellbeing pilots are in place in systems covering 700,000 staff.
• Staff can access occupational health teams, either on site or remotely, with onward rapid referral to other services where needed
• Direct access to a suite of national services to support wellbeing such as apps, a helpline, e-learning resources. These will augment local health and wellbeing support services
• As part of the national health and well-being offer, training for line managers and teams will be provided to enable individual health and wellbeing conversations and plans for staff

As part of the establishment of the Post-COVID Assessment Clinics, rapid access to these services for NHS staff via occupational health or GP referral is being explored. In addition, information will be made available to NHS employers about Long COVID and how to support staff experiencing it. The Faculty of Occupational Medicine has produced Guidance for healthcare professionals on return to work for patients with long-COVID and Guidance for managers and employers on return to work for employees with long-COVID.

“I am now on day 285 of Long COVID and whilst I consider myself lucky to have survived, I have been left with many ongoing health issues for which there seems to be no ‘cure’. My life is unrecognisable from before and I struggle to navigate the every day.”

Orli, a nurse who cared for COVID-19 patients

Actions

• A comprehensive package of health and wellbeing support has been extended from June 2021, for staff as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response and NHS recovery."