What were we trying to do?
We wanted to look at regional differences in rates of Long Covid, the impact of Long Covid on sufferers’ lives and how employers manage the condition.

 

 

Why was this important?
Most people recovered quickly after catching COVID-19, but an estimated 2 million people continued to live with the symptoms of Long Covid. 

 

It was important to understand which region/s had the most people with the illness, to make sure adequate support was being provided, both in terms of diagnosing the illness and developing future treatments. 

 

Learning more about Long Covid would also provide extra knowledge that could be used in the event of another pandemic.

 

 

How did we do it?
To develop a greater understanding of Long Covid, we used a range of available data to look at the following:

 

1. The prevalence of Long Covid at national, regional and GP practice-level 
2. The experiences of people living with Long Covid in North East England
3. The policies and practices of employers relating to employees with Long Covid
4. How to support the health and wealth of people living with Long Covid

 

 

Findings
Key findings in each of the 4 areas were:

 

Prevalence of Long Covid

• Nationally, an average of 4.4% of people had Long Covid, but there were clear differences between higher levels in the north and lower levels in the south. In North West England, the average rate was 5.5%, in the North East and Yorkshire, it was 5.1%. However, in the South West, the average rate was 3.4% and in the South East, it was 3.6%.
• Almost 6.3% of people in the most deprived locations had Long Covid, compared to 3.3% in the least deprived. 
• Long Covid ‘hotspots’ were found most often in deprived parts of England. 
• The 10 GP practices with the highest rates of Long Covid were all in the North. In some practices in the North East, North West and Yorkshire, 20% of all patients had Long Covid.

 

Experiences of people living with Long Covid

• Long Covid included a range of symptoms, with brain fog, fatigue, breathlessness, low mood and depression being the most common.
• These symptoms had a significant impact on people’s lives, in some cases stopping them from working or doing everyday tasks.
• Some people with Long Covid felt isolated, although women seemed better able to cope with this. 
• Employment prospects for people with Long Covid were affected, with most being either demoted, fired, forced to resign, or switched to part-time work. Many people with Long Covid were dissatisfied with their employer’s levels of support and compassion.

 

Employer responses to Long Covid

• Despite more people in the North having Long Covid, only 3 in 10 northern public sector employers had a specific rehabilitation package for employees living with the illness. 
• Employer support for COVID-19 focused on the acute stage of the illness, rather than Long Covid. 
• The way Long Covid sickness absence was recorded among employers – when it was recorded at all – made it difficult to compare organisations.

 

Recommendations
Following analysis of the data, 4 main recommendations were made:

 

1. Research funders should prioritise biomedical research into Long Covid to develop accurate diagnostic tests, improve understanding of how the illness works, and develop treatments.
2. More research should be done to understand how factors like income, education, and living conditions affect Long Covid.
3. Research on Long Covid should use insights from other post-viral conditions like ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. More funding should be given to these conditions to help with treatment and prepare for future pandemics.
4. The relationship between disability figures, sex and Long Covid should form the basis of further research.

 

Two priorities were also identified for the government:

 

1. The government should develop programmes for employers to support members of their workforce with Long Covid. 
2. The government should carry out a consultation with Long Covid patients to help understand their condition better and to put care plans in place to help with rehabilitation and management of the condition.

 

Read the full report: Navigating the Long Haul: Understanding Long Covid in Northern England

 

 

Who did we work with?
•    National Health Science Alliance (NHSA)
•    Newcastle University
•    University of Manchester
•    Middlesbrough Council
•    Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council
•    Insights North East
•    Healthworks
•    NIHR ARC North East and North Cumbria

 

 

Funding information
The work upon which this report is based was commissioned by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and was conducted as part of the ‘COVID Recovery Analytics’ project. The report was produced by Health Equity North (HEN), which is funded by the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) and the Universities of Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, and York. 

 

More information

 

Senior Programme Lead
Mike Spence
mike.spence@healthinnovationmanchester.com