Community engagement – post-Covid syndrome (long Covid)

This report examines the effects of Long COVID on people in Havering, building on an earlier report by the Healthwatch organisations in Barking & Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge. For this report, people (including some of those who responded to the 2022 survey) were invited to answer questions on their experience of Long COVID. The questions examined whether people felt their symptoms of Long COVID had got better, stayed the same or worsened; if they had been formally diagnosed; what symptoms they had experienced; whether their lifestyle had changed; what services and support they were aware of and whether they had availed themselves of that help; and whether their physical and mental needs had been met. They spoke to 113 people.

Responses to those questions revealed a range of experiences, from feeling much better to much worse, from receiving the support they needed to having no support at all.

Many of those living with Long COVID reported experiencing both devastating mental stress (fatigue, tiredness, “brain fog”, anxiety) and physical difficulty (breathing difficulties and breathlessness, smell and taste problems, lack of energy). This confirms known clinical indicators of Long COVID.

This report concludes that clinicians need to understand more about Long COVID and also the support available for patients living with Long COVID. Some patients might also benefit from better networks within the community aimed at addressing the Long COVID and by enabling them to share their experiences for mutual support and understanding.