Doctors with long Covid vow to sue NHS over lack of pandemic PPE

Hundreds of doctors have signed up to LCD4A, and the campaign group is calling for other healthcare workers in England and Wales who suffered similar circumstances to come forward.

But amid the threat of legal action, experts have said there are no guarantees that healthcare workers who suffer with long Covid contracted the virus at their workplace.

Dr Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at Reading University, told Sky News there is a “greater than 50 per cent chance” healthcare workers who were infected in early 2020 contracted the virus at work, as lockdown meant other contact was significantly reduced, but conceded there were no guarantees.

He added: “We have to remember that there was a shortage nationally of PPE. So the supplies of better, more effective masks might have been somewhat restricted.”

A spokesman for the Department for Health and Social Care said: “Throughout the pandemic, the government acted to save lives and livelihoods, prevent the NHS being overwhelmed and deliver a world-leading vaccine rollout which protected millions of lives across the nation.

“We have always said there are lessons to be learnt from the pandemic and we are committed to learning from the Covid Inquiry’s findings, which will play a key role in informing the government’s planning and preparations for the future. We will consider all recommendations made to the department in full.”

It is not known how many NHS doctors currently claim to have long Covid. 

However, estimates by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) from May 2021 suggested that approximately 122,000 healthcare workers were self-reporting symptoms of long Covid.

The NHS was contacted for comment.

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