RCGP calls for national network of ‘post-Covid’ clinics

The Royal College of GPs is calling for a national network of ‘post-Covid’ clinics to provide better NHS support for people chronically ill for months with coronavirus symptoms.

NHS England said it was ‘rapidly expanding new and strengthened rehab centres’, but less than 12 per cent of 86 NHS care commissioning groups asked by the BBC said they were running such services.

Research suggests that approximately 300,000 people in the UK have reported symptoms lasting for more than a month, a situation that has been coined ‘long Covid’. Data from King’s College London’s Covid Symptom Study app shows that around 60,000 people have been ill for more than three months.

BBC’s File on 4 asked all 212 Clinical Commissioning Groups and health boards across the UK whether they had set up post-Covid clinics for patients who were not admitted to hospital with the virus - but did not necessarily receive a positive test result.

Of the 86 that responded, 10 said they were already running such facilities. A further 16 said they were planning or redesigning services.

Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "Without doubt, we know that there's going to be a growing number of people who have significant and worrying symptoms of long Covid. A small proportion, but in total a large number, will require specialist advice. So we really do need to see a growing number of post-Covid clinics being established."