United Kingdom News (including UK wide, England, NI and Wales - see separate thread for news from Scotland)

Disability charity is ordered to pay £150,000 to disabled employee with long Covid​


AI Summary:
A disability charity, Shared Lives South West, has been ordered to pay £152,745 to William Drysdale-Wood after a tribunal found he was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against due to his disabilities.
Drysdale-Wood worked as a shared lives coordinator from September 2015 until his dismissal in September 2023.
He had Crohn’s disease and was later diagnosed with long Covid and chronic fatigue syndrome.
After periods of sickness absence and a phased return to work, he attended two capability meetings in September 2023.
He was dismissed the day after the second meeting on the grounds of ill health.
The tribunal ruled that the capability process was “remarkably brief” and did not allow him to demonstrate improvement.
The judge found the charity could have used less discriminatory measures, such as tolerating limited absences, instead of dismissal.
The dismissal contributed to a deterioration in his health.
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I don't want to detract at the BACME letter topic, so asking here.

Jonathan Edwards said:
Absolutely, and advocacy groups calling for special mutidisciplinary ME/CFS services - just like what we have now "in the community" (which inevitably means cheap and useless). I think there may be some progress in getting these groups to see the problem. Maybe we shall see on Monday.
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Does anyone know if LC charities are aware of the problem? All I've seen in that space is complaining about the closure of LC clinics (or merging with ME/CFS services) while calling for multidisciplinary clinics providing holistic care. Given the aforementioned merging of the services, it's even more important that they are aware of the pitfalls.
 
Felis Catus said:
Does anyone know if LC charities are aware of the problem? All I've seen in that space is complaining about the closure of LC clinics (or merging with ME/CFS services) while calling for multidisciplinary clinics providing holistic care. Given the aforementioned merging of the services, it's even more important that they are aware of the pitfalls.
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This is a big problem I think. People with Long Covid are mostly still learning the ropes about service options and, yes, are just calling for multidisciplinary 'holistic' care. The clearer perspective comes from ME/CFS long haulers who have seen what happens over decades.
 
I suspect when people call for multidisciplinary clinics they are imagining seeing a range of doctors from different specialisms to investigate and treat their symptoms in different parts of the body.

They wait months or years, only to find it's an online group short course run by one of a random selection of a physio, OT or psych therapist all offering the same BACME style advice about sleep hygiene, pacing up and with a bit of breathing exercises thrown in.
 
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ca.news.yahoo.com

Long Covid patients are forgotten, ex-GP says

The NHS in the North East and Cumbria is closing its last dedicated long Covid clinics this month.
ca.news.yahoo.com ca.news.yahoo.com
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Long Covid patients are forgotten, ex-GP says​
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A doctor whose career was ended by long Covid said living victims of the virus were being forgotten by politicians and the NHS.​
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Susannah Thompson, 46 and from Blyth in Northumberland, contracted the virus in 2020 while treating Covid-19 patients, and within a year was using a wheelchair having had multiple medical problems.​

Dr Thompson has been mentioned previously in this post:
Haveyoutriedyoga

Post in thread 'United Kingdom: News from #There for ME'

Dr Binita Kane - Consultant Respiratory Physician, special interest in ME/ Long COVID, Manchester

Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham OBE - GP Principal and Professor of General Practice Research, Manchester

Dr Anna Porter - NHS GP, North Central London

Dr David Shakespeare - Consultant in Neurological Rehabilitation Medicine, Lancashire, Royal Preston Hospital

Dr Deepak Ravindran - Consultant NHS Pain Medicine, specialist interest in Long COVID, Berkshire

Dr Hollie Francis - GP Partner, Greater Manchester

Professor Amitava Banerjee - Consultant Cardiologist and Professor of Clinical...
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There is a Twitter trend on this:


Long Covid Leaves Former Doctor Wheelchair-Bound as Clinics Close
Last updated 3 hours ago
The 46-year-old from Blyth developed heart issues, pain, breathing problems, skin conditions, and cognitive challenges like memory loss after contracting Covid in 2020. She struggles with basic conversations and never expected to rely on benefits. As the North East's last NHS Long Covid clinics close this month, patients like her will shift to symptom-specific services, sparking criticism from advocates and MP Luke Akehurst who call the move misguided amid 94,000 cases in the region.
 
I am hugely appreciative that they are fighting for better research funding and more to be done for the Long Covid sufferers but only really the Liberal democrat showed any sign of clarity of thought and a hint they understood the actual issues. The clinics were mostly dreadful based on the old dangerous rehab model and patients slammed them. But the NHS as a whole is completely ignoring Long Covid patients entirely, its diagnosed a tiny number so it certainly isn't treating them in any way. I want my politician advocates to be better informed on the topic so they are pushing for the right things.
 
www.mirror.co.uk

I saw the trauma at Covid inquiry hearings - this must never happen again

As the raw emotion of the Covid-19 Inquiry draws to a close, Britain’s collective trauma must be used to stop this ever happening again, says the Mirror's Health Editor Martin Bagot
www.mirror.co.uk

I saw the grief and trauma at Covid inquiry hearings - this must never happen again​

As the raw emotion of the Covid-19 Inquiry draws to a close, Britain’s collective trauma must be used to stop this ever happening again, says the Mirror's Health Editor Martin Bagot​
…​
The inquiry has already concluded that 48% of deaths during the first wave - 23,000 of people who died - could have been avoided if lockdown had been brought in just a week earlier.​
 
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