People in Scotland with long Covid are missing out on specialist centres provided for those in England.
An estimated 700,000 patients in the UK have described debilitating long-lasting symptoms after Covid-19. Many say that the condition is poorly understood and treatment is haphazard.
Scotland has not followed England in providing specialist centres for symptoms that can last for months while health boards here promise to deliver treatment closer to home.
However, a survey of health boards reveals a wide disparity in the treatment offered as experts say GPs struggle to know where to refer patients.
Professor Kate O’Donnell, of Glasgow University’s department of primary care research and development, said: “It is difficult to get care. We are hearing this from GPs and it is difficult for them to know where to send patients.
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“There is now a high awareness of long Covid and a lot of discussion around the rehabilitation and research needed to treat patients. It is clear that many people have had damage to their organs.”
O’Donnell and her team are starting research this month into long Covid patients who were tested for the virus. People who tested positive and negative will complete questionnaires asking about symptoms and returning to normal life. “We are looking for the characteristics of those who tested positive. However, we will not be able to tap into those not tested,” she said.
Lesley Macniven, a founder of Long Covid Scotland, said that some people had no documentation to prove they had Covid and now had long-lasting symptoms. She said that people struggling with chronic fatigue and other symptoms had been dismissed by doctors and researchers. “The lack of availability of tests in the first wave has led many to be unable to prove they had the virus and are often unable to be diagnosed and treated with long Covid.
“Patients are often having to hunt for supportive GPs to accept their account of having had Covid. In effect we are being penalised for lack of testing provision that was the fault of the government. A year later many have still not had an assessment or had their prolonged symptoms investigated. Those who had a positive test appear to have had an easier journey though they may still not find much in the way of treatment.”
The Scottish government says it supports developments of clinical guidance on Covid’s long-term effects but wants patients to be treated near home by GPs, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists.
