Ms Sarah O'Connell:

Most people would say this part of long Covid is almost as bad as the effect on their day-to-day lives. A typical journey is that a patient attends their GP after a few weeks of symptoms and is probably told something like they could just be a bit stressed or anxious or that a bit of the virus is still hanging around. There may then be multiple appointments back and forth to the GP to keep repeating the same concerns, and new symptoms may come along. Eventually, perhaps after months and months, the patient, rather than the GP, brings the idea to the table that it may be long Covid because they have been researching. Sometimes the GP is happy to refer them to a long Covid clinic. Sometimes there is a battle around this for whatever reason. People are reporting gaslighting at every stage of their journey.

Senator Kyne mentioned family members and employers. The issue is there is a trickle down effect from the lack of awareness about long Covid publicly. Family members do not understand why their loved ones are so ill. They hear the GP say the person is perhaps just stressed or anxious. Some of these people are not being taken seriously by their own families.