Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last week, I spoke with the mother of a long Covid suffer who until she contracted the virus was a young and fit woman working as a doctor in a busy hospital. She has not stood on a hospital ward in more than 11 months because she is still recovering from the illness. Based on research conducted in Ireland and the Netherlands, 336,451 adults are experiencing or have experienced a long-lasting impact of this illness, known as long Covid. Long Covid encompasses a broad range of illnesses following Covid infection and is based on three clusters of symptoms. These are fatigue, respiratory issues and cognitive problems. They can range in severity from those who cannot recall the PIN for their bank card to people who are unable to get out of bed. The vast majority of these people did not require hospitalisation at the time of the original infection, with many experiencing only mild symptoms.

The HSE has recognised the need to support these patients and last September, it finalised an interim model of care for long Covid to provide a national approach for the provision of services and supports, yet up to last month only 20 of the 60 health service staff to be recruited to these regional centres for the management of prolonged conditions associated with Covid-19 were in post. We are told that until these regional centres are fully operational, we will not see the establishment of GP referral pathways. Even now there are still no plans to provide a dedicated service for children with long Covid. The eight planned regional clinics will primarily focus on fatigue and respiratory-related issues with a single consultant neurologist appointed to deal with cognitive problems. This is despite evidence presented to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health indicating that cognitive and neurological problems are emerging as the most significant long-term issues for those with long Covid.

The only clinic supporting those with long Covid neurological issues, which is at the Mater Hospital, is set to close its doors at the end of next week because of the failure by the HSE to fund it. I firmly believe the failure by the HSE to put in place a comprehensive strategy for those with long Covid is contributing to the record figures we witnessed last month with almost 10,000 patients on trolleys in our hospitals. Unless the interim model of care is revised to reflect the emerging evidence on long Covid and such a strategy for all of our patients, regardless of age and illness, is then delivered, this will compound a dire prognosis for our health service this winter.

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