Long Covid among staff adding to healthcare pressures, say NHS leaders

Concern that omicron will further increase absenteeism rates in the health service

Samuel Lovett
Science Correspondent
Thursday 09 December 2021 21:06 GMT
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<p>NHS trusts are ‘concerned about the prevalence of long Covid’ among staff </p>

NHS trusts are ‘concerned about the prevalence of long Covid’ among staff

NHS bosses have warned the high prevalence of long Covid among staff is adding to rising healthcare pressures, amid growing concern that the new omicron variant could further drive infections and absences in the workforce.

Some 40,000, 3.26 per cent, of healthcare workers in the UK are estimated to have long Covid, according to the Office for National Statistics. This figure has risen by 5,000 since July.

Many will be unable to work, though others are continuing to work despite their debilitating symptoms, experts say.

The warnings come as the number of new UK omicron cases doubled again in 24 hours, bringing the confirmed total to 817. There were among 50,867 new Covid-19 cases and 148 new deaths.

In Scotland, health officials said Christmas parties should be cancelled.

“I appreciate that everyone is keen to celebrate this festive season, particularly after the pressures of the last 20 months, but by postponing some plans we can all do our bit to protect ourselves and our loved ones,” said Dr Nick Phin, the director of public health science and medical director at Public Health Scotland.

On Wednesday, the government warned there might be as many as 10,000 cases of omicron and the number could rise to one million by Christmas.

It is not expected to cause severe illness in vaccinated people, but the sheer scale of the infections could lead to a rise in hospitalisations and incidences of long Covid.

“Trust leaders have told us they are concerned about the prevalence of long Covid amongst health and care staff,” said Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers.

“Staff who are unwell need time to recover with support. But this may worsen unavoidable absences and sickness levels in the NHS at a time when pressures on the health service are mounting.”

It’s feared that the spread of omicron, which appears to be able to reinfect the double-jabbed and has driven a number of super-spreader events among the vaccinated in other countries, will further exacerbate pressure in the NHS if wards full of doctors and nurses are simultaneously infected and forced to self-isolate.

Mr Hopson said the new variant “could lead to another spike in Covid infections and consequently, in rates of long Covid, amongst health and care staff.”

Dr Shaun Qureshi, a palliative medicine physician in Scotland, said he has been off sick from work for over a year due to long Covid. He is one of 58 doctors with the condition who have written a letter to the prime minister warning that NHS staff are still “not adequately protected”.

“We strongly feel the government must answer why we were treated as if we are expendable,” he said. “The number of people with long Covid are accumulating. It's an epidemic within a pandemic. Yet not a lot of acknowledgement.”

Dr Qureshi said that many of the signatories of the letter are unable to work, while others have lost their jobs. He said he had suffered damage to his autonomic nervous system and now has to take medication to slow his heart rate.

“I also have problems concentrating, with short term memory,” he added. “I was previously high functioning but now doing any mental task is extremely taxing.”

Claire Hastie, a member of the NHS’s long Covid taskforce, said there haven’t been many conversations about the knock-on effects of long Covid in healthcare. “It’s not something that’s been particularly emphasised during our meetings,” she said.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said on Thursday that healthcare workers shortages in the region are being made worse by the region’s high prevalence of long Covid.

Some 11 per cent of NHS staff in the area have the condition, he said. “That is presenting challenges to frontline staffing.”

The NHS continues to report a high overall sickness absence rate in England, at 4.6 per cent for June. This was up from 4.3 per cent in May and 4 per cent in June.

Anxiety, stress, depression and other psychiatric illnesses is consistently the most reported reason for sickness absence, accounting for over 502,000 full-time equivalent days lost in June.

However, the NHS itself does not publish figures on how many of its staff have long Covid.

“Counting the size of the problem would be a first step,” said Elaine Maxwell, a former scientific advisor at National Institute for Health Research and trustee of the Long Covid Support group.

“Current sickness policies do not accommodate the relapsing nature of symptoms and many staff have to return to work before they are fully fit. This is potentially harmful to both the staff and their patients as healthcare workers may lose situational awareness and avoidable harms may result.

“The NHS has focused on its patients with long Covid; it urgently needs to turn its attention to its employees.”

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “Given the level of demand from patients and what the NHS is expecting to respond to this winter, any loss of staff owing to sickness is really concerning.

“Although attention is often focused on the proportion of people with Covid who become severely ill and require hospitalisation soon after infection, it is also vital to recognise many of those with relatively mild symptoms will go on to develop longer-term problems, which will require health and care interventions.”

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