https://arab.news/22ym2
LONDON: Nearly 300 British doctors, nurses and other health workers with long COVID are suing the health service for compensation, saying they were not given proper protection during the pandemic.
They say their lives have been devastated by a host of severe health complications. Most cannot return to work and many are housebound.
“This is life changing. People are really suffering financially. Some are living in poverty,” said nurse Rachel Hext, one of the claimants.
“We’re suing because this is the only way of providing for our futures.”
Health staff with long COVID told the Thomson Reuters Foundation they felt betrayed by the government after risking their lives to work on the frontline during the pandemic. They contrasted the weekly public displays of appreciation for National Health Service workers at the height of the crisis with the lack of support they had received since becoming ill.
“It’s been like hero to zero,” said Hext. “We were clapped on doorsteps one moment, and abandoned the next.”
The claimants include consultants, doctors, nurses and hospital porters. Many are in debt or using up savings to survive.
They say they were not given adequate personal protective equipment, including high-grade masks, and often had to rely on flimsy surgical masks.
“I think we’ve got a very good chance of winning,” said solicitor Kevin Digby, who is representing many of them.
More than 200 symptoms have been linked to long COVID, including cognitive impairment or “brain fog,” extreme fatigue, shortness of breath and chronic pain.
The lawsuit is unlikely to be heard by the High Court before 2026 at the earliest because of Britain’s ongoing public inquiry into the handling of the COVID crisis in which more than 230,000 people died.