The Health Service Executive’s plans to treat thousands of long Covid sufferers are based on outdated science, a leading infectious diseases consultant has said.
Prof Jack Lambert says the HSE approach focuses on the respiratory consequences of infection when most long Covid symptoms now relate to the brain and immune problems.
The future of Prof Lambert’s long Covid clinic in the Mater hospital in Dublin, which has focused on neurological conditions linked to long Covid, is in doubt over a lack of funding.
Meanwhile, the HSE has set up eight post-acute clinics, which treat patients up to 12 weeks after Covid infection, and six long Covid clinics for patient’s longer-term issues.
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The post-acute clinics are being led by respiratory consultants and the long Covid clinics by infectious diseases consultants. The long Covid clinic at St James’s Hospital alone employs a neurologist.
“Why have a post-acute clinic if there are no patients meeting the clinical criteria to attend it?” Prof Lambert asked. “Since the Omicron variant of Covid became dominant, there have been very few cases with ongoing respiratory after-effects.”
He accused the HSE of basing its approach on hospital groups rather than the burden of disease. “Someone’s not keeping up with the science, and it certainly isn’t to the benefit of the patient.”
Independent TD Denis Naughten has said that just 20 of the 60 health service staff to be recruited to work with long Covid patients were recruited up to August, with an underspend of at least €1 million in the budget allocation likely this year.
“It makes absolutely no sense to force the closure of a clinic treating long Covid when there is going to be such a large underspend. We cannot allow a situation where the very minimal services that are available are withdrawn just so HSE managers can reallocate the ‘savings’ for their own pet project as patients suffer in silence at home without any support,” he claimed.
A HSE spokesman said it was implementing and resourcing post-acute and long Covid services across the country, and some clinics have already been established.
“The HSE is now working closely with each of the long Covid and post-acute hospital sites to expand the existing clinics to provide a full scope of care. Provision of new and additional resources to these clinics will ensure all services are operating to the same high standard of care.”
Services to be offered by the clinics will include holistic, multidisciplinary assessment and intervention, access to diagnostics and ongoing support and self-management for patients, he said.
