We are hugely concerned about the welfare of doctors and healthcare workers with Long Covid. Many doctors and other health care professionals have been impacted by Long Covid and need better support, including when they are unable to work due to their condition.

Healthcare workers have been particularly impacted by Covid-19 and more frequently report suffering Long Covid than the general population.

We are working to improve the support for doctors suffering with Long Covid. 

Long Covid BMA survey report

Over-exposed and under-protected: the long-term impact of Covid-19 on doctors

The report calls attention to the impact of post-acute Covid on doctors. It draws from a UK-wide survey conducted by the BMA and Long Covid Doctors for Action of over 600 doctors.

This is the first comprehensive survey of doctors with post-acute Covid health complications and provides a unique and valuable insight into the experience of UK doctors with the condition.

The report highlights the debilitating effects post-acute Covid has had on a large number of doctors, both professionally and personally. This disease has profoundly altered doctors’ lives and has contributed to a loss of the NHS workforce, adding further strain to overstretched UK healthcare services.

What we want

The lives of many doctors have been significantly impacted by contracting Covid-19, with a large number of these doctors contracting it whilst doing their jobs during the pandemic. Therefore, the BMA is calling for:

• Financial support for doctors and healthcare staff with post-acute Covid
• Post-acute Covid to be recognised as an occupational disease in healthcare workers, with a definition that covers all of the debilitating disease’s symptoms
• Improved access to physical and mental health services to aid comprehensive assessment, appropriate investigations, treatment, and ultimately recovery from post-acute Covid
• Greater workplace protection for healthcare staff who risked their lives for others
• Better support for post-acute Covid sufferers to return to work safely, including a flexible approach to the use of workplace adjustments

Key stats/ findings

The impact of post-acute Covid on doctors’ lives has been far reaching:

• 1 in every 5 respondents reported that they are no longer working due to post-acute Covid ill health

• Nearly half (49%) of respondents told us that they have experienced a loss of earnings as a result of post-acute Covid.

Many doctors contracted Covid-19 whilst at work due to inadequate protections

• 69% of doctors who contracted Covid-19 in 2020 told the BMA that they had not been individually risk assessed before acquiring Covid-19
• A small minority of doctors had access to respiratory protective equipment (RPE) around the time that they contracted Covid-19, with only 11% having access to an FFP2 respirator and 16% to an FFP3 respirator

Far greater support is needed to help doctors access the support they need

• Around 66% of respondents have worked despite not feeling well enough to perform their duties, as a consequence of post-acute Covid ill health.

To help achieve our asks the report sets out 10 recommendations:    

Support for BMA members with Long Covid

Our employment advisors are working with individual members - employed and independent contractor doctors with Long Covid, to help them access the support they need and are entitled to from their organisation.

We are hearing from members with Long Covid that different NHS organisations are making decisions about Long Covid on a case-by-case basis and using their discretion to inform decisions around return to work assessments, pay and other support. It is therefore difficult to provide general guidance about what will happen in any individual case.

We would strongly advise any member with Long Covid who is in need of support to contact our team of advisors, using the contact details below. 

Lobbying for improved support for doctors with Long Covid

Calling for better support for doctors with Long Covid and recognition of Long Covid as an occupational disease in health care workers, has been an important issue for the BMA. Some of our activities include: 

• Condemning the UK Government’s decision to end the enhanced sick pay for doctors with Long Covid and calling for its continuation until a long term strategy was in place. 
• Publishing our report Addressing the health challenge of Long Covid, which sets out our key recommendations to governments to improve the diagnosis, care and treatment of people with Long Covid, including the care and support needed for doctors with Long Covid.
• Supporting calls by the APPG on Coronavirus for a separate Long Covid compensation scheme to be established for key workers
• Calling for Long Covid in doctors to be classed as an occupational disease. In 2022, the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (who advise the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions regarding industrial injuries benefit and how it is administered), presented to Parliament its recommendations regarding the circumstances in which Long Covid should be prescribed as an occupational disease. However, the UK Government has yet to even respond to or act on these recommendations. If the UK Government acted on this, it could help NHS workers with long term physical conditions caused by Covid-19 to receive Industrial Injuries Disability Benefit. The BMA partnered with the Royal College of Nursing to mark each anniversary of this paper by writing to and meeting with the UK Government to urge them to act on the recommendations and support healthcare workers with Long Covid. We will continue to press for the recommendations to be accepted and actioned. 
• Engaging with the Covid inquiries – We ensured both the UK and Scottish Covid-19 Inquiries examined the impact of Long Covid on doctors by providing written and oral evidence. In the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, we asked questions of expert Long Covid witnesses to put doctors and other healthcare workers at the heart of considerations. The UK Inquiry has found that healthcare workers were at higher risk of developing Long Covid (due to their greater exposure to Covid-19), that the government was slow to consider the seriousness and prevalence of the condition in its decision-making, and that Long Covid remains a significant public health priority. We have highlighted these Inquiry findings in communications with the UK Government about future emergency preparedness.

Additional support

Claiming IIDB (Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit)

Long Covid has yet to be recognised as an occupational disease by the UK Government, making it difficult to claim IIDB for Long Covid as a disease. However, some cases of Long Covid have been awarded compensation on the basis that the Covid was "an accident caused by work".

For more information read our brief Applying for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for healthcare workers with Long COVID.

Claiming NHS injury allowance

Some doctors with Long Covid may be eligible for NHS injury allowance.

Find guidance on claiming allowance

It may assist a NHS injury allowance claim to have had your Covid infection reported by your employer to the Health and Safety Executive under the terms of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). In doing so, you may wish to query with your employer whether the instance of Covid you currently have or previously suffered has been reported to the HSE.

If you have any questions around a potential personal injury claim or queries around personal injury in general, BMA Law may be able to assist.

To find out how BMA Law can help you:

• get in touch via email
• call 0300 123 2014.

Return to work and financial support

The Society of Occupational Medicine - Covid-19 return to work guide: For recovering workers.

University College Hospital London Post Covid service – return to work and finance. information

Royal Medical Benevolent Foundation - provides support and financial assistance for doctors and their families through all stages of their career and beyond.

The Cameron Fund - medical benevolent charity which solely supports General Practitioners and their dependants.

ACAS - an independent and impartial organisation that helps to improve the working life of employers and businesses.

Citizen Advice - national charity and network of local charities offer confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free.

Step change - Free debt advice online, and support for as long as you need it.

Money Buddies - Free Money advice service whose aim is to help clients out of debt, poverty and have social justice.

Help for Households - Find out what support is available to help with the cost of living. This includes income and disability benefits, bills and allowances, childcare, housing and travel.

Patient information, counselling and peer support

University College London Hospitals - post COVID follow up service and general patient information.

BMA counselling and peer support - Free and confidential 24/7 counselling and peer support services open to all doctors and medical students (regardless of BMA membership), plus their partners and dependents.

Long Covid Doctors for Action - private Facebook support group for doctors.