Posted: Mon 4th Apr 2022

Extra £5million investment announced for long-covid services in Wales

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Monday, Apr 4th, 2022

An extra £5 million is to be invested in supporting people suffering with long-covid across Wales.

The funding has been allocated health boards to fund the continuation of the Adferiad programme.

Launched last summer Adferiad aims to diagnose, rehabilitate and support those with long-covid – a condition defined as symptoms which
persist for more than 12 weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis.

All health boards in Wales provide integrated, multi-professional rehabilitation services for people with long-Covid and refer people to specialist care services wherever needed.

In its first six months the service supported more than 2,200 people across Wales.

A review of the programme found:

  • Of the 2,431 recorded cases of people with long-Covid via GP systems in Wales, 2,226 have accessed Adferiad services.
  • Around 3.5 per cent of people with long-Covid were referred to secondary care services.
  • Less than 27 per cent of people with long-Covid had been hospitalised with Covid-19.
  • The Covid Recovery App has been an effective digital tool to help people manage their condition.
  • The majority of people who took part in the review said they felt their concerns were listened to and they were supported to get the help and information they needed.
  • More than 70 per cent rated their experience of the service above average and more than 87% would recommend the service.
  • People responding to the national patient evaluation, undertaken by CEDAR who used long-Covid services, reported an improvement in their health outcomes and were satisfied with their experience.
  • A long-Covid expert group has been set up to consider the impacts of the condition, treatments and referral methods.

In a statement, Health Minister Eluned Morgan said: “In my Oral Statement on 8th February I provided Members of the Senedd with an update on the outcome of the first review and the progress made to develop long COVID services.

“I also confirmed that I would be considering the priorities for the next six months so the NHS can continue to develop the expertise of our workforce, adapt services to meet the needs of our population and ensure these services are embedded as part of our wider COVID-19 recovery planning.

“As we continue to respond to the demands of the pandemic response it is vital that the development of community services is maintained to support those who are recovering from the effects of COVID-19.

“The Adferiad programme has expanded and enhanced primary and community-based services in every health board and we have developed a clear pathway to improve access and speed up referral where people need more specialist care.

“The model of community led rehabilitation services appears to be meeting the needs of those who have used the services and by clinicians as an effective way to support people.

“It is hoped by the end of the next six-month period in July, health boards in Wales will take the opportunity to begin to expand the community model to treat and support people with other long-term conditions which have a similar impact as long COVID, including the likes of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

“This would help create effective long term intervention services and reduce variation treating people with different conditions and diagnoses.

“The funding will also support the continuation of the self-management COVID recovery app and the All-Wales guideline for the management of long COVID, which have been effective digital tools in supporting people to self-manage their symptoms and providing healthcare professionals with up-to-date advice and learning to support the diagnosis and treatment of long COVID.

“We are continuing to learn more about the long-term effects of COVID-19 and how it can affect people in many different ways.

“We continue to evaluate our approach of treating, supporting and managing people through our unique service model as the most efficient and effective way of achieving the best outcomes for people experiencing long COVID.

“We are also continuing to participate in several research studies to understand the best way to support people’s recovery.”



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