The Experience of Post-Covid-19

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, NHS evidence suggests that some people have found that their symptoms have not gone away. This is sometimes also called Long Covid. Healthwatch Redbridge, Havering and Barking & Dagenham joined together with the North East London Foundation Trust Long Covid service to hear the experience of local people who feel they have Post-Covid-19. We wanted to hear about their access to support and what helped. Our findings show that some people found their symptoms very distressing and accessing specialist support difficult. However, once referrals were successful, people felt they were able to better manage the impact of their symptoms. 

These findings have been shared with GPs across North East London, and will be published on the website of the NHS Integrated Care Board. This will enable the people designing and delivering services to better understand the experience of service users. The findings have also given support to people designing patient information material, so that there is more awareness of the specialist clinic at King George Hospital.