200 people attended long-covid clinic in Cork last year

THERE were more than 200 presentations to Cork’s long-covid clinic last year.

Some 92 new and 137 repeat patients presented to the clinic in 2023, while 47 people presented to a post-covid clinic across a two-year period, with 41 of these in 2022 and six in 2023. 

The figures were released by the HSE to Labour Party TD Sean Sherlock and candidate for Cork City South East Peter Horgan, along with the figures for Dublin clinics.

The HSE said that an interim model of care for long covid was finalised in 2021, setting out a framework for services, spanning general practice, community services, acute hospitals, and mental-health services.

They said, “It recommended the development of six adult long-covid clinics, eight adult post-acute covid clinics, and one tertiary referral neurocognitive clinic.

“The resources required across multi-disciplinary clinical areas have been approved and include respiratory and infectious disease consultants, administrative staff, specialist respiratory physiotherapists, clinical-nurse specialists, and liaison psychiatry or psychology staff, depending on local need. 

“All long-covid clinics have links to their local liaison psychiatry teams. Any occupational-therapy and dietitian-supporting services will be delivered in the community by the community health network staff.

“In addition, the post-covid specialist-assessment clinics have age-appropriate arrangements in place for managing children and young people with post-covid syndrome, including support for psychological needs.”

There are clinics in Beaumont Hospital, St Vincent’s University Hospital, Connolly Hospital, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Tallaght university Hospital, and St James Hospital, all in Dublin, and one in Cork, in CUH.

1,063 new patients attended one of the clinics in the county from January 2022 until August 2023.

No patients presented with long covid in 2022, with a spokesperson for CUH saying: “The long-covid clinic based at Cork University Hospital (CUH) opened in December 2022,” and added that “it is currently operational, with a full complement of staff”, Mr Horgan said:

“It’s vital that the Cork clinic is ringfenced and protected, but we must go further and seek enhanced GP/medical card situations for those diagnosed with long covid.”