Katie recently headed back to the UK to visit friends, family, and former colleagues.(written 04/14/2024)

I recently headed back to the UK to visit friends, family and some former colleagues from the National Health Service. I lived in the UK for many years, so it is always great to visit friends and old haunts when I go back. 

Here are a few reflections on the trip that may be relevant to the Long COVID community… 

It was striking to see how many people have been impacted by Long Covid in some way. I know the statistics show the number of people experiencing Long Covid is high. Anecdotally, it seemed like over the course of a week of connecting with lots of family and friends it was clear that no one’s life was untouched. If people weren’t impacted directly, a close friend or family member was struggling with some aspect of Long COVID symptoms. 

The other reflection is that the National Health Service is truly stretched and struggling. Health and care staff are burned out, funding is as tight as it has been in most people’s careers and clinicians are still working to clear the backlog of demand for routine services that built up during the pandemic, when hospitals were shut to non-urgent care. On top of this, the normal work focused on innovation, improvement and strategy is (understandably) concentrated on keeping the lights on and getting waiting lists down. At a time when creative solutions are needed to address the new health care challenges that Long COVID presents, health and care organizations, and individuals within them, are finding it more difficult to create the bandwidth to develop creative solutions. If you are not sitting in England, and wondering how this applies to you, the answer is simple… similar forces are almost certainly at play in your own country’s health care system.      

Researchers, dedicated clinicians and those experiencing Long Covid are all working hard to find answers for those impacted, and to provide support. But it is interesting to see that the organizational components that would normally support that work are stretched and not functioning at their best. This is not welcome news, especially for the millions of people impacted by Long COVID. Fortunately, not all solutions require clinical interventions or prescriptions to help people with Long COVID feel better.

We will all continue to watch research findings for new insights, but as many of those managing ME/CFS or other autoimmune syndromes know, we can use existing evidence to help tackle symptoms. Like with other new viruses or health issues, in time, the experience of people in the Long COVID community can help inform the health system's response. So stay positive, keep connecting with your clinicians, and seek out simple solutions that can improve how you feel.  

Warmly,  
Katie