Plaid Cymru call for specialist long-Covid clinics as people ‘forced to go private’
Plaid Cymru have called for specialist clinics to treat long Covid, saying that some people suffering the after-effects of infection are currently being forced to go private.
The results of a review of Wales’ long-Covid programme announced by the Welsh Government yesterday found that community and primary care services were effective in treating people with symptoms.
But Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson on health and care, has renewed his party’s calls for specialist long Covid clinics saying that there were thousands of sufferers in Wales and “little certainty in the medical outcomes they can expect”.
“Feedback from the long-Covid cross-party group which I co-chair says that Welsh Government must rethink its approach and set up the specialist teams that patients and medical experts internationally are calling for,” he said.
“We didn’t expect GPs to work in isolation when Covid-19 first arrived, so why does government think this is appropriate now?
“This piecemeal approach to a serious condition is forcing some patients to go private, which is awful when you consider that long-Covidis more prevalent in people living in more deprived areas. Treatment for long Covid should not be a preserve of the rich.”
‘Still learning’
The Welsh Government set up a £5m Adferiad (Recovery) programme in June of last year to diagnose, rehabilitate and support those suffering from long-Covid in Wales.
Minister for Health and Social Services Eluned Morgan said that they were committed to ensuring every person suffering from long-Covid received support and care tailored to their particular needs and symptoms and as close to home as possible.
“It’s great to see the results of this review, which show people are receiving the right care they need for them and positive health outcomes are being maximised,” she said.
“We know it affects everyone differently. By following the primary care model we have ensured people are treated by the most appropriate specialists for their symptoms. Not everyone suffering from long-Covid will need to see a specialist and this model will stop people waiting a long time for treatment.
“We are still learning about long-Covid and this review will help us improve services further. We will continue to monitor the support required and adapt accordingly as we learn more to ensure services are available to all those who need support.”
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Good idea, as this thing seems to be very nasty. People also find it hard to work .
There is good evidence for at least one type of antibody therapy that seems to help some long covid sufferers. N.I.C.E need to take an urgent look at what helps and take steps to make treatments available.
Open up more centres in wales 🏴 just for people with the Covid systems and take them out of hospital’s it’s time for a new wales 🏴
For information: “Betsi” – North Wales Health Board – now does have a dedicated long-Covid support team; and access to it can be either self-referral or (like everything else!) through Primary Care, ie your general practice. However, I’ve just searched on Betsi’s public website, and I could _not_ see there how to do the self-referral. (There was only, as far as I could see, useful general advice: Long COVID – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (nhs.wales) My understanding – personal communication – is that this service is run by one nurse; she was previously working in the cardiac rehabilitation unit… Read more »
“This piecemeal approach to a serious condition is forcing some patients to go private,”
Sadly, due to reduced funding from the English Government, this is a growing trend within the UK. There has been a significant growth of the private health care industry in the UK due to underfunding in the UK and that started well before the pandemic. By stealth, we appear to be moving to a US model of public services when, certainly by the voting trends in Wales, we would want to move more to a Scandinavian model.
Another good reason for Welsh independence.
Beware of the privatisation threat to what are really basic services for ordinary folk whose meagre wealth and incomes often prevent access to private services. Even the charitable sector is being ripped off by scheming/scamming opportunists. Read this earlier : The Captain Tom Foundation spent more on costs and consultants in its first year than it gave away to charitable causes. The foundation spent around £240,000 and donated £160,000. Those consultants are the curse of modern business or indeed any entity that has funds flowing through it. They come down like a flock of vultures but whereas the old bird generally waits… Read more »
Yes I know, I’ve worked in that environment. 20 years ago I worked in central London as an IT contractor either working with their people or in one case for these consultancy companies. The offices anywhere within walking distance of Parliament were full of people from these companies, all leaching off Government contracts (and BTW, not a nameplate on any of the offices). I suspect that health consultancy people are pricing up the cost of trading in their Porsche for a Tesla whilst we write.
A mate of mine caught covid right at the start of the pandemic, almost two years later he still hasn’t got his sense of taste back.