Mary Wilson
Well-known member
Press release from the BMA
Location: UK
Published: Tuesday 4 July 2023
Lost jobs, lost income, debilitating symptoms that render even the most mundane tasks near-impossible, and huge barriers to accessing treatment: these are the repeated stories of UK doctors living with Long Covid, in response to a major survey from the BMA.
Carried out in partnership with the support group Long Covid Doctors for Action, it is the first comprehensive survey of doctors with post-acute Covid health complications (often referred to as ‘Long Covid’)[SUP]1[/SUP]. More than 600 doctors suffering the continuing effects of Covid-19 were asked about the impact the condition is having on their health, daily lives, employment and finances.
In a report[SUP]2[/SUP] published today, the findings paint a stark picture of the devastating impact Long Covid is having on this group of people who were doing their job during the pandemic and deserved to be better protected – and for whom many feel completely let down by a system that they say has turned its back on them.
Key findings[SUP]3[/SUP] include:
Location: UK
Published: Tuesday 4 July 2023
Lost jobs, lost income, debilitating symptoms that render even the most mundane tasks near-impossible, and huge barriers to accessing treatment: these are the repeated stories of UK doctors living with Long Covid, in response to a major survey from the BMA.
Carried out in partnership with the support group Long Covid Doctors for Action, it is the first comprehensive survey of doctors with post-acute Covid health complications (often referred to as ‘Long Covid’)[SUP]1[/SUP]. More than 600 doctors suffering the continuing effects of Covid-19 were asked about the impact the condition is having on their health, daily lives, employment and finances.
In a report[SUP]2[/SUP] published today, the findings paint a stark picture of the devastating impact Long Covid is having on this group of people who were doing their job during the pandemic and deserved to be better protected – and for whom many feel completely let down by a system that they say has turned its back on them.
Key findings[SUP]3[/SUP] include:
- Doctors reported a wide range of symptoms, including fatigue, headaches, muscular pain, nerve damage, joint pain, ongoing respiratory problems and many more.
- Around 60% of doctors told the BMA that post-acute Covid ill health has impacted on their ability to carry out day-to-day activities on a regular basis;
- Almost one in five respondents (18%) reported that they were now unable to work due to their post-acute Covid ill-health;
- Less than one in three (31%) doctors said they were working full-time, compared to more than half (57%) before the onset of their illness;
- Nearly half (48%) said they have experienced some form of loss of earnings as a result of post-acute Covid;
- 54% of respondents acquired Covid-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, and 77% of these believed that they contracted Covid -19 in the workplace;
- A small minority of doctors had access to respiratory protective equipment (RPE) around the time that they contracted Covid-19, with only 11% having access to an FFP2 respirator and 16% an FFP3 respirator;
- More than 65% of doctors responding said their post-acute Covid symptoms had not been investigated thoroughly and effectively by an NHS long Covid clinic or centre. And almost half of doctors reported not even being referred to an NHS long Covid clinic at all. ...