Patients who have had Covid-19 and have experienced symptoms which have lasted for longer than 12 weeks are now being referred into the North Cumbria Long Covid Assessment service.  

Patients have been able to access a range of support to help them recover from Covid-19 over the last 12 months, and this has continued to develop in order to allow input from more clinical teams as the need to treat the long term effects of the virus has been recognised.

Barbara McBarbara McCready.jpgCready is an advanced specialist physiotherapist at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) and has helped lead the work to develop the assessment service. She said: “The launch of the new service is fantastic news for patients as we know many people have had an incredibly difficult recovery journey where symptoms have continued for a long time.

“As the effects of Long Covid are wide-ranging it’s a huge boost to be able to assess each patient effectively and then tailor any treatment to their specific needs. In order to minimise patient fatigue the assessments are usually done over the telephone, with attendances at clinics as and when required.”

Dr Matthew Lane, respiratory consultant at NCIC, has also been involved in work to develop the service. He said: “During the first wave of Covid we recognised that the illness would have lasting consequences for those patients hospitalised with it. As such our specialist respiratory physiotherapist service was adapted to offer support to these patients.

“Over time it became clear that additional inputs would be required and the service developed into a multi-disciplinary team approach, with good links to the health psychology team, the speech and language team and the respiratory clinic. The service was held up in the Northern Respiratory network as an exemplar service for others to follow.”

Long Covid usually presents with clusters of symptoms, often overlapping, and may include:

  • Fatigue or lack of energy
  • Memory, concentration problems and “brain fog”
  • Muscle pains, ongoing muscle weakness and deconditioning
  • Breathlessness
  • Chest heaviness or palpitations
  • Ongoing cough
  • Problems with speech or swallowing
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Mood changes and psychological problems
  • Persistent loss of smell / taste
  • Dizziness / headaches

The list is not exhaustive and research is ongoing to discover more about the longer-term effects of the illness, as well as potential treatment options.

Barbara McCready added: “We know that for some patients the effects of Covid have been persistent and often very debilitating and this can need specialist treatment. The new service allows input from different professionals and can also allow a series of physical, cognitive or psychological assessments where needed.

“The treatment can range from self-care advice to patients having access to a range of healthcare professionals who can support with physical and mental health conditions. It also means patients can have access to the right healthcare professionals at the right point throughout their recovery.”

National guidance defines Long Covid as occurring when a patient has had symptoms for 12 weeks or more following a Covid infection. In line with this, patients won’t be referred into the service or diagnosed as having Long Covid unless they’ve had symptoms for 12 weeks or longer. 

Dr Helen Horton, a GP Lead at NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), has also been involved in work to develop the service and said: “If you're worried about persisting symptoms after having coronavirus, please discuss this with your GP. You won’t be referred into the Long Covid service unless you’ve had symptoms for 12 weeks or more, but your GP will still be able to offer support.

“The NHS has also produced an excellent educational website called Your COVID Recovery, which has lots of good advice and self-help tips. You can access it at www.yourcovidrecovery.nhs.uk

Barbara McCready added: “I’m incredibly proud of the teams involved in developing this service. We’ve been able to recruit more therapy and wellbeing staff and it’s great to see teams working together to provide a multi-disciplinary service for patients.”