Post-Covid syndrome: People's experiences of health care and support in Gloucestershire
Download (PDF 1.49 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Gloucestershire wanted to understand how post-COVID syndrome (long COVID) is affecting people’s health and wellbeing and to find out what care and support is available in Gloucestershire.
A survey ran in December 2021 and was completed by 50 people. Six people discussed their experiences over the phone.
Key messages
- People don’t always know which services are available to help them.
- Most people were helped by their GPs and a smaller proportion were helped in hospitals.
- People are waiting a very long time to hear from the Post-COVID Syndrome Assessment Service after referral.
- Patients felt left alone to seek their own treatment options.
- Being proactive to find support could be challenging due to brain fog and fatigue.
- People were not often given the opportunity to have face-to-face conversations with clinicians.
- Long waiting times and disjointed services made mental and physical wellbeing more difficult to treat
A number of recommendations were made in the report.