Up to one in five people who got Covid developed long Covid with symptoms like fatigue and respiratory problems lasting longer than 12 weeks, the HSE has revealed.
One of the HSE’s national directors, Dr Siobhan Ni Bhriain, said that they are discovering that between 10% and 20% of people who got Covid suffered for more than three months.
Health chiefs were before the Oireachtas health committee on Wednesday afternoon where they also told shocked TDs and Senators that the average waiting time for patients with long Covid to see an expert is five months.
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And the politicians also heard that when they do eventually get into one of only six long Covid clinics in the country, there is no cure, no ‘definitive treatment' for the debilitating condition.
The committee heard that the longest wait list in the country is at Tallaght hospital, Dublin, where there are 286 people on a waiting list for long Covid treatment.
James Connolly hospital in Blanchardstown, Dublin, is another hospital with a long list, as there are 135 people in the long Covid queue there.
Beaumont hospital in north Dublin has 60 people waiting and the Mater in Dublin city centre has just three on their list.
The HSE has commissioned a report from HIQA to see what they can do with people presenting with long Covid.
Dr Ni Bhriain said: “The number of people that are affected with acute COVID and Long COVID remains unknown, but published reports indicate that approximately 10-20% of COVID 19 patients experience lingering symptoms for weeks to months following acute SARs-CoV-2 infection.
“An epidemiological survey is being planned to provide insight and understanding to the prevalence of Long Covid in the Irish Population and risk factors for developing Long Covid.
“It will also help to forecast future demand for services and will inform the direction of the Model of Care.
“The HSE has commissioned HIQA to review the evidence regarding Long Covid, including Models of Care (MoC) in other jurisdictions. This, along with additional research that will be conducted by the HSE, will inform the development of services and a review of the current Interim Model of Care.”
The HSE’s national clinical director for integrated care said they have no cure for long Covid.
She added: “The science is only emerging and there is no evidence that there is a definitive treatment for it yet.
“I mean there is evidence that some sort of supportive therapy works, but there is no definitive evidence for any definitive medication, or for any definitive treatment.”
Independent Senator Frances Black had a special interest in questioning the HSE on long Covid because she had the condition.
She told the HSE experts in Leinster House: “I can tell you, I had it and I can say that it is absolutely exhausting.”
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