Cork healthcare workers with long covid ‘on a cliff edge’

Two Cork healthcare workers suffering with long covid fear they won’t be able to pay their mortgage if a planned cessation of their special pay scheme goes ahead on the last day of this year.

Olivia Barry told The Echo that if the scheme is ceased,she and other workers will only be covered under the normal public sector sick leave scheme, which would see them receiving three months full pay, then three month’s half pay, then moving onto illness benefit, which is a significantly lower amount.

“We won’t be able to pay our mortgages,” Ms Barry said. “We’re heading into another Christmas and we can’t enjoy Christmas with our families. People are tired of hearing about covid and they want to move on, but we’re stuck.”

Ms Barry explained that five years ago she worked in a designated covid ward at what was an exceptionally challenging time for everyone.

“Healthcare workers went to work when the majority of people were told to stay home, and it was hands-on work. We were unable to socially distance.”

She explained that the country was opened up for Christmas in 2020 by the government against Nphet advice.

“We saw the consequences, infection went up day-by-day,” she said.

“There was applause in the Dáil for us, but it’s gone silent now and we’re back on a cliff edge, facing the cessation of the special pay scheme.”

She said that her life is very different since contracting covid.

“I now live with debilitating fatigue. I’m continuously exhausted, despite sleeping through the night. I never have a restorative sleep. It fluctuates, some days you might be able to do a little more, push yourself a bit, then you crash and your symptoms are back worse than ever.

“Prior to contracting covid, I lived a very active life. I enjoyed my work as a nurse. The Government has said that the pay scheme was a temporary thing. But my illness hasn’t been temporary, none of us realised we were going to end up like this.

“I was a hard worker, as is any other healthcare worker in the country, and I would be at work today if I could. I worked in the same care setting for over 20 years and took great pride in my work.

“This time of the year, every year, we pay our nursing registration. I’ve paid the last five years and haven’t been able to practise.”

She explained that they have been trialling different medications and seeing an expert on long covid.

“They’re still researching, trying to come up with something, but it’s very hard to say how long it is going to take.”

Currently, she says, affected workers are managing on lower pay than they would have received for working, as they do not get the extra pay they would have for working Sundays and nights.

Ireland and Greece are the only two EU countries who do not recognise long covid contracted during work as an occupational injury, and this classification means that the Labour Court’s hands are tied, she said.

Another Cork woman, Fiona Walsh, told The Echo that her covid journey goes back to January 2021.

“I contracted covid at work following the country reopening for a ‘meaningful Christmas’ — my ward became a covid ward, and it was a very difficult situation for everybody, especially for patients and their families because of the restrictions on visitors,” she said.

“Many of us on the scheme contracted covid before the vaccines. Many staff had issues with PPE, it was very difficult times. When I got sick, I thought ‘I’m young, I’m healthy, I’ll be fine. I’ll do my isolation and be back to work’. Unfortunately, that was nearly five years ago, and I still haven’t been back.”

Symptom-wise, she says it’s difficult to explain how debilitating it is.

“The fatigue is the worst, I worked full-time and I had a lot of energy before, but this has changed everything. When people hear fatigue, they think you’re tired. But it’s more than being tired. It’s going to do the food shop, then having to come home and go straight to bed. It’s choosing between having dinner or going for a shower.

“I suffer from severe brain fog, I mix up my own medications, forget words and sentences. I burn the dinner if I don’t have a timer set. I’ve gone to bed with the doors all unlocked. I left the kitchen sink on and flooded the kitchen,” she said, explaining that she could not provide safe nursing care as a result of this.

Tachycardia, joint pain, muscular pain, nerve pain, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and recurring mouth ulcers are among the other symptoms she has experienced.

Ms Walsh said: “All long covid patients face medical expenses. Every doctor’s appointment is up to €250. My medication every month is €80 and that’s only because it’s capped through the drug payment scheme.”

She explained that the unions are fighting for a specific scheme for healthcare workers, as the current scheme has a lot of red tape, and that this would see long covid classified as an occupational injury, but she said that in the short term, even the extension of the current scheme would be a help.

She said it has been a long fight.

“The 2020 version of me would never have expected this version of me — talking to the media, speaking in the Dáil, to TDs.

“It is very hard speaking publicly about something this personal, telling people that some of us are ging to struggle to pay our mortgages.

“The minister for health repeatedly says we’re on full pay, but healthcare workers get premium allowances for Sundays, night duty, bank holidays and that’s what would bulk your salary up.

“We had been getting paid that, but in March 2023, the department of public expenditure stopped our premium pay and since then we’re just getting basic pay. My salary is probably down €400-€500 a month, so I do feel the pinch, especially with the cost of living and electricity prices increasing.”

She added that it’s a difficult time of year to be experiencing this concern. “We need a Christmas miracle at this stage, but I’m not sure if we’re going to get it.”

Both nurses highlighted how supportive the unions had been, and said certain TDs had also been very helpful, naming Social Democrats’ Liam Quaide and Pádraig Rice, and Fine Gael’s Colm Burke.

Mr Quaide told The Echo: “It’s heartless of the Government to discard healthcare workers with long covid at an arbitrary cut-off date after they developed a disabling condition following an occupational illness. Many of these workers were essentially cannon fodder in an overwhelmed and over-exposed health system following the government’s ‘meaningful Christmas’ in 2020, in advance of which they ignored public health guidance on the rapid escalation of covid.

“The Government needs to recognise long covid as the occupational injury that it is for these workers and give them some peace of mind regarding their financial security.”