Medic reveals impact of long covid in Hertfordshire – and services available

As many as 20,400 people in Hertfordshire are ‘likely’ to be experiencing ‘long covid’, councillors have been told.

Fatigue, breathlessness, reduced tolerance to exercise, ‘brain fog’, anxiety and depression, are all commonly reported symptoms of the condition.

And on Friday, November 12, the services available for long covid in Hertfordshire were outlined to a meeting of the county council’s public health and community safety cabinet panel.

In a written report to the panel, Dr Sam Williamson, associate medical director of the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care System, pointed to new data that suggests 1.1million people were experiencing ‘long covid’ nationwide.

And based on that, he said it was ‘likely’ that in Hertfordshire 20,400 residents could be affected by ‘long covid’.

Symptoms of long covid can be similar to other conditions. So, councillors were told, it was vital that patients are assessed and investigated before a diagnosis is made.

And then, it was reported, they could be given further advice or referred on for specialist rehabilitation or care.

Dr Williamson – a consultant in public health – highlighted the ‘rapid’ implementation of services within Hertfordshire for residents with long covid.

“[…] both Herts Valleys and East and North Hertfordshire developed at pace long covid services for their population,” says Dr Williamson’s report.

“A key success locally is the rapid implementation of a new service to assess and manage a new complex condition.

“Local providers have been recognised as being early implementers of Long COVID services and are contributing to the evolving and emerging body of evidence around the management of Long COVID.”

At the meeting, Dr Williamson also reported that ongoing covid symptoms occur in all age groups – but are ‘most prevalent’ in people aged between 35 and 69.

He said Herts and West Essex services had had more referrals than any other area of the East of England region.

And it was reported that for 2021/22 Hertfordshire has been allocated £717,947 to expand existing services, in order to meet the demand for long covid.

“This additional funding has allowed the expansion of services to meet the demand for Long Covid across Hertfordshire,” said the report.

“It has also been used to ensure that already commissioned services have received additional funding in order to provide additional capacity for those patients requiring ongoing care for specific symptoms, i.e. Pulmonary rehabilitation, Chronic Fatigue services etc.”

Meanwhile, Dr Williamson also highlighted ongoing work to look at how services to support residents with long covid could work alongside community services, the charity and voluntary sector and services commissioned services from the county council.