Hundreds of doctors may be suffering long-term effects from having undergone COVID-19 infection, it was revealed today.
Doctors report suffering from chronic fatigue and reduced exercise capacity – while some say they have lost concentration after recovering from the viral infection.
A British Medical Association survey found that nearly a third of doctors are aware of patients suffering long-term effects after recovering from the virus. Chronic fatigue and reduced exercise capacity are the most common symptoms – reported by more than 700 doctors in a survey with 3,700 respondents.
Some 1,092 doctors reported coming across long-term effects and 28% said these included anosmia while 33.5% reported patients suffering from dizziness and 44% said that patients had suffered concentration difficulties.
Among a thousand doctors who had experienced the infection 21% reported chronic fatigue and 21% reported suffering reduced exercise capacity. 11% reported difficulties with concentration.
Dr Richard Vautrey, chair of the BMA’s GP committee, said: “It’s increasingly clear that the long-term impact of COVID-19 on individuals and on health services will be profound. These statistics suggest that patients are, even once they have recovered from the worst of this virus, still suffering the after-effects for some time.
“With more patients presenting with conditions as the result of infection, it’s essential that sufficient capacity is in place to support and treat them. With the growing backlog of non-COVID treatment, the likelihood of a season flu outbreak, and the possibility of a second wave of infections we need to see a more comprehensive long-term plan to enable doctors to care for their patients this winter and beyond. “
Dr David Strain, chair of the BMA’s medical academic staff committee, said: “The increasing evidence that COVID-19 patients can suffer long-lasting symptoms, irrespective of the severity of the initial infection, requires detailed study to understand what optimum treatment would be, and, preferably, how to prevent it occurring in the first place. Until this is known, it is imperative that the Government and the NHS does more to protect the medical community from infection. We cannot afford more failures of quality and supply in PPE.”
He added: “Doctors who have been shielding, either due to their own risks or due to the vulnerability of people they care for such as children with complex disease or elderly relatives, and have now been asked to return to work must be presented with evidence of the safety measures that are being put in place to make workplaces COVID-19 safe.”
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