Long COVID-19 Services
Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Health the position regarding dedicated services to address Long COVID in each of the regions; the steps his Department is taking to provide services and supports for those affected by Long COVID; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh
Covid is still with us and we are still learning about the virus all the time. We are learning about how it is turning up in people’s heart muscle and how it is crossing the body-brain barrier. If you have met somebody with Long Covid, as I am sure the Ministers of State have, you will know they look absolutely the same. They look in the full of their health. Despite this, they are managing their energy from day to day. I wanted to ask the Minister specifically about dedicated services to address Long Covid in each of the regions and about the steps the Department is taking to improve these services and supports for people who are suffering in the long term from this new virus.
Deputy Mary Butler
I thank the Deputy for raising this really important question. As he will be aware, the HSE interim model of care for long Covid is being implemented, building on existing service provision, in addition to the establishment of new services across GP and community services and acute hospitals to ensure a national service is in place for all who need it. In 2023, €6.6 million was allocated for the continued development of these services.
Long Covid clinics are currently operational in Cork University Hospital, University Hospital Galway, St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, the Mater University Hospital, Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, Tallaght University Hospital, St. James’s Hospital and Limerick University Hospital. We have a concentration of four in the Dublin area, along with Cork, Limerick and Galway. Clinics operating under the model of care are supported by interdisciplinary teams with a range of expertise. The teams include clinicians in the areas of infectious disease, respiratory medicine, psychiatry, cardiology and neurology. Allied health professionals, including occupational therapists, physiotherapists and clinical psychologists, also form part of these interdisciplinary teams. The HSE continues to develop the service and is actively recruiting clinicians into these teams.
In addition, there has been work to further inform the continued development of post-acute and long Covid services. I have raised this situation. I know the next question the Deputy is going to ask me. It will relate to specific areas of the country, for example, the south east and the north west. The HSE has launched a follow-up after disease acquisition, FADA, survey to help to increase its understanding of how people are recovering from prolonged symptoms of Covid-19. Preliminary results of the survey are expected to be available late in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh
As the Minister of State read through that list of hospitals, she knew that as a Waterford Deputy, I was going to get up and point out that 600,000 people live within one hour of University Hospital Waterford, and yet no Long Covid services are provided there. I have been dealing with a number of people through my constituency office and, to be quite honest about it, with a number of people in my family and the main message I am getting is that they do not feel they are being believed because they outwardly look perfect and in the full of their health. Even if people go to their GP, the process of identifying Long Covid really just involves trying to rule out everything else so that all that is left is Long Covid. These are people who are managing their energy from day to day. One constituent of mine came into my office and said that he had not bathed his new child because he knew that doing so would take too much energy out of him and that he would not be able to get up for work the next morning. He has exhausted his paid leave and all of those things. Quite simply, these people feel like they are not believed and not supported. That is something we have to turn around.
Deputy Mary Butler
I thank the Deputy for his question. He has really hit on something interesting. The long Covid service remains relatively new and work is ongoing to further establish, resource and embed these clinics. However, he is quite right in what he has said. This is new. Covid was new to us in 2020, 2021 and 2022. We now all know people who have long Covid symptoms. It is important that there are supports for them. Service development and planning is ongoing and recruitment into established clinics continues. As I said, the HSE has undertaken that survey. It has also launched a FADA survey to help to increase its understanding of how people are recovering from prolonged symptoms of Covid-19. The purpose of the survey is to estimate the prevalence of self-reported long Covid, to estimate the severity and nature of the symptoms among those identified as having long Covid and their impact and to inform the planning of the HSE long Covid model of care, which is an important piece.
Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh
While you should never base policy on anecdote, I was speaking to my local GP, who said that one in six of the people turning up to his GP service are there because they are suffering from Long Covid.
People do not have a fixed diagnosis or sheet of paper saying they are suffering from Long Covid. There is a need for that piece around self-reporting, and maybe even a public awareness campaign on that to build a better picture of what is happening there, and then pathways to reach those services that are needed for people to feel believed. I reiterate the point that in the south east, I do not want somebody who is managing their energy getting in a car travelling to either Dublin, Cork or Limerick to access services.
Deputy Mary Butler
I fully agree with the Deputy. The survey under way will also access the severity and range of symptoms associated with long Covid and give an indication of the level and range of services required to adequately respond to long Covid in Ireland. As I said, the analysis of the survey is under way.
