Long Covid: 'We feel abandoned and forgotten'
Healthcare workers with long Covid say the government needs to do more to support those left with life-changing disabilities since catching the virus.Nurse Rachel Hext, 37 from Paignton, insisted she caught Covid in her job as a nurse in a small community hospital in Devon."We were clapped and called heroes, and now those of us who have been bereaved or disabled by it have been forgotten," she said.The government said it knew long Covid could have a debilitating impact on people's physical and mental health, that there was a "range of support for staff" and it was funding research into it.
Mrs Hext is one of a group of healthcare workers with long Covid who have taken their fight to the High Court to try to sue the NHS and other employers for compensation.The staff, from England and Wales, said they believed they first caught Covid at work during the pandemic and said they were not properly protected from the virus.She said: "I want acknowledgement and I want support for the people who need it. "Long Covid is absolutely life-changing. It's devastated us as a family."Her symptoms range from brain fog and extreme fatigue, to nerve damage and deafness.The Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust said: "The health and wellbeing of our staff is our priority, and we are extremely grateful to all our colleagues who worked tirelessly during the pandemic to care for our patients."Due to ongoing legal proceedings, we are unable to comment further on this matter."
Dr Rachel Ali, 46, of Plymouth, said she tested positive for Covid on Boxing Day 2021 before developing chest pain, cognitive impairments and chronic fatigue.She was a partner in her GP practice but lost her job after being sick for 15 months.She said: "I want the government to recognise this is still happening. "We talk about Covid being in the past, but we are still in a pandemic. The global emergency has ended, the pandemic hasn't. "People are still getting sick and never getting better."Dr Ali has returned to work as a GP part-time but said she needed to rest in the afternoons because of chronic fatigue.She said she was urging the government to recognise Covid as an occupational illness for healthcare workers.She said: "Around the country, a lot of long Covid clinics are being decommissioned as if we are still not here."She said people who were the worst affected should get compensation.
GP Ellie Mountstephens, 53, of Galmpton, Devon, said she contracted Covid at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.After being off sick for six months, she lost her job as a partner in a GP practice.She said she had not felt safe to go back to work as a GP because she struggled with her memory.She said: "I am really worried I will miss something key or I will forget to write something down. I don't trust myself to do a good job and I expect myself to do a good job for my patients."She said she wanted the government to carry out more research into the condition.
In Cornwall, the Kernow Local Medical Committee - which represents Cornish general practice - said its pastoral service had supported "a handful of GPs where long Covid seemed to be either a major contributor or causal factor responsible for their current work or personal problems".It added: "We are also aware of a small number of patients working in the wider local health service for whom the condition has been career ending."In terms of the general population, we suspect that the majority of more susceptible individuals have now been challenged by the Covid virus: this, the vaccine, herd immunity, and the lack of testing have contributed to a slowing down of referrals and hopefully of serious new cases."
'No single treatment'
A government spokesperson said: "We are committed to ensuring there are quality services across the country for people suffering with long Covid, which we know can have a debilitating impact on people's physical and mental health."NHS England has rolled out a range of support for staff with long Covid and other conditions."No single treatment currently exists for the condition, which is why we are funding research into it. "We are also joining up health and employment support so people with long term conditions can stay in work and get back into work."
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North Wales Chronicle
25 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Weight-loss jabs may need to be taken for life, experts warn
The drugs are sold under brand names like Mounjaro and Wegovy and work by reducing food cravings. Obese patients can currently be prescribed the jabs on the NHS after being referred to specialist weight loss clinics, which are usually located in hospitals. Hundreds of thousands of people also access the medication privately at pharmacies. There have been warnings about buying potentially unsafe jabs online from unregulated retailers and potentially missing out on wraparound support. Experts said the jabs should not be seen as the first option in weight loss and should be used in conjunction with lifestyle changes, such as eating more healthily and increasing exercise. Professor Graham Easton, a GP who has been using weight loss jabs himself, said: 'I think it's a major issue about the proper funding and resourcing of not only the GPs in the surgeries but also the wraparound care we talked about. 'I think the other issue is that so far, to my knowledge, the NHS and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have talked about this being something you take for two years, and that's probably related to data from research studies. 'But as we discussed, this is likely to be a lifelong commitment if it is going to be worthwhile to the NHS. 'There's no point in most people taking it for a couple of years and then have the weight bouncing back. 'You can argue possibly you're about to prepare for surgery or something, but in most cases it doesn't make any sense. 'Then I think there's a big issue around access. Most obesity occurs in poorer populations as wealthier populations tend to not be so affected. 'There's a massive sort of socio-economic inequality and there is a worry about this driving that inequality even further. 'Unless the NHS makes sure that these are available across the board equally, I think that's a major risk.' Prof Easton said recent studies had shown people who stopped taking the drugs had put the weight they lost back on within around a year. 'That's often true of any diet, people would say, and that's certainly my experience of having wrestled with my weight in diets over the years,' he said. 'All I would say that I found interesting from that review was that they were suggesting perhaps that weight returns even quicker after having been on GLP-1 drugs. 'Then speculating, because there was no way of knowing from that review, that perhaps it's because people are not changing the behaviours we've been talking about like exercise and other lifestyle changes, just relying on the drugs. 'When you stop them, of course, you're going to put weight back on. The switch is turned back off, or whatever it was. 'I mean very similar to, for example, statins or anti-hypertensive blood pressure medications, if you want lifelong effects, you have to keep on them lifelong.' Prof Easton was speaking at an event at the Cheltenham Science Festival discussing the growing use of weight loss drugs with neurophysiologist Dr Simon Cork and consultant endocrinologist and obesity expert Dr Tony Goldstone. Dr Cork said the jabs have an important role to play in losing weight but are part of wider changes to diet and lifestyle. 'I think we have to understand that diet is always limited. People will tend to lose on average around 5% of their body weight on a diet,' he said. 'But you're hungry, you're miserable, you're tired, your wife hates you because you're so grumpy, you're not going to continue with that. 'But we should absolutely all be looking at our diet and all changing our diet, and doing something.' Dr Goldstone said weight loss drugs had been used in the treatment of diabetes for over a decade and had benefits of reducing the risk of developing other conditions. 'We're now in the third and fourth generation of these drugs, but the first generation of these drugs we've been using for 15 years for diabetes,' he said. 'There is nothing of concern that has emerged. In fact, all we're seeing are benefits. I'm not too worried about longer term side effects coming out. 'There is no real biological reason why there should be dangerous side-effects in the way that we know these drugs work. 'The benefits of the weight loss improvement in the diabetes are actually by themselves helping health and preventing other diseases, like cancer, heart attacks, renal failure, and potentially even reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. 'All those benefits, even if there was something that we hadn't really thought of that emerged down the line, I suspect that the harm of that is outweighed by the potential benefits of weight loss improvement in diabetes control.' Dr Cork said no drug is without side-effects and previous weight loss medications had failed because of them. 'There are side-effects, there are some concerning side-effects that tend to be very rare, but then you can monitor for those side-effects,' he said. 'As long as you're getting the correct care, as long as your GP is aware that you're taking them, then those should be identified. 'If you do find those side-effects, you can stop taking the drug.'
Leader Live
26 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Weight-loss jabs may need to be taken for life, experts warn
The drugs are sold under brand names like Mounjaro and Wegovy and work by reducing food cravings. Obese patients can currently be prescribed the jabs on the NHS after being referred to specialist weight loss clinics, which are usually located in hospitals. Hundreds of thousands of people also access the medication privately at pharmacies. There have been warnings about buying potentially unsafe jabs online from unregulated retailers and potentially missing out on wraparound support. Experts said the jabs should not be seen as the first option in weight loss and should be used in conjunction with lifestyle changes, such as eating more healthily and increasing exercise. Professor Graham Easton, a GP who has been using weight loss jabs himself, said: 'I think it's a major issue about the proper funding and resourcing of not only the GPs in the surgeries but also the wraparound care we talked about. 'I think the other issue is that so far, to my knowledge, the NHS and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have talked about this being something you take for two years, and that's probably related to data from research studies. 'But as we discussed, this is likely to be a lifelong commitment if it is going to be worthwhile to the NHS. 'There's no point in most people taking it for a couple of years and then have the weight bouncing back. 'You can argue possibly you're about to prepare for surgery or something, but in most cases it doesn't make any sense. 'Then I think there's a big issue around access. Most obesity occurs in poorer populations as wealthier populations tend to not be so affected. 'There's a massive sort of socio-economic inequality and there is a worry about this driving that inequality even further. 'Unless the NHS makes sure that these are available across the board equally, I think that's a major risk.' Prof Easton said recent studies had shown people who stopped taking the drugs had put the weight they lost back on within around a year. 'That's often true of any diet, people would say, and that's certainly my experience of having wrestled with my weight in diets over the years,' he said. 'All I would say that I found interesting from that review was that they were suggesting perhaps that weight returns even quicker after having been on GLP-1 drugs. 'Then speculating, because there was no way of knowing from that review, that perhaps it's because people are not changing the behaviours we've been talking about like exercise and other lifestyle changes, just relying on the drugs. 'When you stop them, of course, you're going to put weight back on. The switch is turned back off, or whatever it was. 'I mean very similar to, for example, statins or anti-hypertensive blood pressure medications, if you want lifelong effects, you have to keep on them lifelong.' Prof Easton was speaking at an event at the Cheltenham Science Festival discussing the growing use of weight loss drugs with neurophysiologist Dr Simon Cork and consultant endocrinologist and obesity expert Dr Tony Goldstone. Dr Cork said the jabs have an important role to play in losing weight but are part of wider changes to diet and lifestyle. 'I think we have to understand that diet is always limited. People will tend to lose on average around 5% of their body weight on a diet,' he said. 'But you're hungry, you're miserable, you're tired, your wife hates you because you're so grumpy, you're not going to continue with that. 'But we should absolutely all be looking at our diet and all changing our diet, and doing something.' Dr Goldstone said weight loss drugs had been used in the treatment of diabetes for over a decade and had benefits of reducing the risk of developing other conditions. 'We're now in the third and fourth generation of these drugs, but the first generation of these drugs we've been using for 15 years for diabetes,' he said. 'There is nothing of concern that has emerged. In fact, all we're seeing are benefits. I'm not too worried about longer term side effects coming out. 'There is no real biological reason why there should be dangerous side-effects in the way that we know these drugs work. 'The benefits of the weight loss improvement in the diabetes are actually by themselves helping health and preventing other diseases, like cancer, heart attacks, renal failure, and potentially even reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. 'All those benefits, even if there was something that we hadn't really thought of that emerged down the line, I suspect that the harm of that is outweighed by the potential benefits of weight loss improvement in diabetes control.' Dr Cork said no drug is without side-effects and previous weight loss medications had failed because of them. 'There are side-effects, there are some concerning side-effects that tend to be very rare, but then you can monitor for those side-effects,' he said. 'As long as you're getting the correct care, as long as your GP is aware that you're taking them, then those should be identified. 'If you do find those side-effects, you can stop taking the drug.'
Western Telegraph
43 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Weight-loss jabs may need to be taken for life, experts warn
The drugs are sold under brand names like Mounjaro and Wegovy and work by reducing food cravings. Obese patients can currently be prescribed the jabs on the NHS after being referred to specialist weight loss clinics, which are usually located in hospitals. Hundreds of thousands of people also access the medication privately at pharmacies. There have been warnings about buying potentially unsafe jabs online from unregulated retailers and potentially missing out on wraparound support. Experts said the jabs should not be seen as the first option in weight loss and should be used in conjunction with lifestyle changes, such as eating more healthily and increasing exercise. Professor Graham Easton, a GP who has been using weight loss jabs himself, said: 'I think it's a major issue about the proper funding and resourcing of not only the GPs in the surgeries but also the wraparound care we talked about. 'I think the other issue is that so far, to my knowledge, the NHS and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have talked about this being something you take for two years, and that's probably related to data from research studies. 'But as we discussed, this is likely to be a lifelong commitment if it is going to be worthwhile to the NHS. 'There's no point in most people taking it for a couple of years and then have the weight bouncing back. 'You can argue possibly you're about to prepare for surgery or something, but in most cases it doesn't make any sense. 'Then I think there's a big issue around access. Most obesity occurs in poorer populations as wealthier populations tend to not be so affected. 'There's a massive sort of socio-economic inequality and there is a worry about this driving that inequality even further. 'Unless the NHS makes sure that these are available across the board equally, I think that's a major risk.' Prof Easton said recent studies had shown people who stopped taking the drugs had put the weight they lost back on within around a year. 'That's often true of any diet, people would say, and that's certainly my experience of having wrestled with my weight in diets over the years,' he said. 'All I would say that I found interesting from that review was that they were suggesting perhaps that weight returns even quicker after having been on GLP-1 drugs. 'Then speculating, because there was no way of knowing from that review, that perhaps it's because people are not changing the behaviours we've been talking about like exercise and other lifestyle changes, just relying on the drugs. 'When you stop them, of course, you're going to put weight back on. The switch is turned back off, or whatever it was. 'I mean very similar to, for example, statins or anti-hypertensive blood pressure medications, if you want lifelong effects, you have to keep on them lifelong.' Prof Easton was speaking at an event at the Cheltenham Science Festival discussing the growing use of weight loss drugs with neurophysiologist Dr Simon Cork and consultant endocrinologist and obesity expert Dr Tony Goldstone. Hundreds of thousands of people access weight-loss medication privately (PA) Dr Cork said the jabs have an important role to play in losing weight but are part of wider changes to diet and lifestyle. 'I think we have to understand that diet is always limited. People will tend to lose on average around 5% of their body weight on a diet,' he said. 'But you're hungry, you're miserable, you're tired, your wife hates you because you're so grumpy, you're not going to continue with that. 'But we should absolutely all be looking at our diet and all changing our diet, and doing something.' Dr Goldstone said weight loss drugs had been used in the treatment of diabetes for over a decade and had benefits of reducing the risk of developing other conditions. 'We're now in the third and fourth generation of these drugs, but the first generation of these drugs we've been using for 15 years for diabetes,' he said. 'There is nothing of concern that has emerged. In fact, all we're seeing are benefits. I'm not too worried about longer term side effects coming out. 'There is no real biological reason why there should be dangerous side-effects in the way that we know these drugs work. 'The benefits of the weight loss improvement in the diabetes are actually by themselves helping health and preventing other diseases, like cancer, heart attacks, renal failure, and potentially even reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. 'All those benefits, even if there was something that we hadn't really thought of that emerged down the line, I suspect that the harm of that is outweighed by the potential benefits of weight loss improvement in diabetes control.' Dr Cork said no drug is without side-effects and previous weight loss medications had failed because of them. 'There are side-effects, there are some concerning side-effects that tend to be very rare, but then you can monitor for those side-effects,' he said. 'As long as you're getting the correct care, as long as your GP is aware that you're taking them, then those should be identified. 'If you do find those side-effects, you can stop taking the drug.'
