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Nearly 140 islanders have been officially recorded as having long covid by GPs so far - and a support scheme, which could include funding, is now being drawn up to help them.
The Health Scrutiny Panel heard last week that officers within the Health Department are working on the development of a ‘Long Covid’ support plan, which will span across the healthcare system.
Islanders suffering from long covid are currently eligible to access Short Term Incapacity Allowance – which is available for up to 364 days – as long as they meet the criteria for it, including having made the necessary contributions to social security, and have been signed off by a doctor.
The Government declined to provide more details about what the support scheme would entail when asked by Express.
“The Public Health team are monitoring the number of islanders affected by Long Covid who are accessing health services, and this will inform the onward support plan,” a spokesperson for the Government said.
"We hope to be able to give more information on the support measures in due course.”
The news came after Health Minister Deputy Richard Renouf told the Panel that 139 islanders have officially been recorded as having long covid since the condition was codified in the system used by healthcare practitioners.
The most common symptoms of long covid are mental and physical fatigue, breathlessness, chest pain or headiness, palpitations, pain in or swelling of the joints, and skin rashes. The loss of taste and smell, a common symptom of acute covid, can also be prolonged.
Recently, a study by University College London identified 200 symptoms affecting 10 organ systems in people with long covid, at higher levels than in people who were fully recovered.
Pictured: Symptoms of long covid vary among patients.
Of the 139, 75 were said to be experiencing ‘ongoing symptomatic covid’, and 64 ‘post-covid 19 syndrome’.
However, the Health Minister said the figures could be “underestimating” long covid, as there could be cases that emerged before March where patients have not gone back to their GPs for any sort of monitoring since.
He said that clinicians were still learning about the condition, whose cause remains unclear, and that work was ongoing on how best to treat it.
“It is perhaps a challenge to know exactly how we can manage this because long covid can mean very different things in terms of symptoms being displayed and of course there are the measures available," he explained.
"If it’s respiratory problems that are continuing, then GPs can treat that as a respiratory illness, but it would be a very different sort of treatment for somebody who continues with their loss of taste or smell for example."
Pictured: Hospital consultants are supporting GPs in the care of islanders suffering from long covid.
His words were echoed by Peter Bradley, the Director of Public Health, who said his department was working with GPs to try and improve the identification of those suffering from long covid.
“We’re also looking at the potential solutions to support people once they’ve received a diagnosis, it’s at an early stage at the moment, but I have had initial conversations with some of the hospital consultants who are offering support to general practices for example so that they are able to manage patients in the community,” he said.
“I am hoping we will be able to bring some ideas forward, we have a little bit of work to do before we can really advise what’s best. It’s a new condition and when you have a new condition, it’s harder to advise the treatment pathways that are best for the patient.”
A young islander who is still feeling the effects of covid 10 months was recently the subject of the Bailiwick Podcast, discussing her experiences, as well as her hopes for the future.
Subscribe to Bailiwick Podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Deezer or Whooshkaa.
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