Long Covid could claim up to 700 doctors in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland could lose up to 700 hospital doctors as a result of the pandemic, it has been warned.

A leading doctor said the effects of long Covid and the trauma being endured by healthcare staff could see Northern Ireland lose up to 15% of its medical workforce.

Dr Tom Black, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) in Northern Ireland, was commenting after the chief medical officer said that 10% of people who contract Covid-19 go on to suffer long-term health problems.

Expand

Speaking about the rollout of the vaccination programme, Dr Michael McBride warned against public complacency in the coming months.

He said: "We need to treat this virus with respect and yes, science and medicine will come to the rescue.

"But let's not forget, Covid isn't a trivial disease, even for those people who do not end up in hospital, who do not end up requiring oxygen, who do not end up requiring intensive care, or sadly and tragically pass away from the virus, we know that 10% of people - even younger people - who have this disease have what is referred to as long Covid.

"This is a nasty virus and it causes a nasty disease and it is going to be with us for quite some considerable time."

According to the latest official statistics, 93,834 people in Northern Ireland have tested positive for Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

This means upwards of 9,000 people here are living with long term effects of the virus, including debilitating breathlessness, chronic fatigue, headaches, chest pain and brain fog.

Dr Black (right) said he is aware of an increasing number of young doctors who are suffering from the effects of long Covid and that young females appear to be more susceptible.

"We will inevitably lose a significant proportion of the health care workforce at the end of this pandemic due to long Covid and due to the physical and psychological burden," he said.

"We are hearing of young doctors, who are otherwise fit or healthy, who have been off work due to Covid and go back after six or eight weeks and then having to leave after an hour or so due to chest pain.

"We have doctors off on long-term sick leave because of long Covid and ultimately we believe we may lose anywhere up to 15% of doctors from the workforce in Northern Ireland by the time this is all over."

Dr Black said the figure of 10% given by Dr McBride adds weight to the BMA that the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should not be delayed for healthcare workers.

"We believe that up to 20% of the health workforce are suffering from long Covid, simply because they are much more likely to get the virus because of their work," he continued.

"One of our arguments is that the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine shouldn't be delayed as it may well protect us from death.

"We are told that one dose helps to prevent a person from being hospitalised, but we don't know if it protects from long Covid.

"The health service is already understaffed in so many areas that it makes sense to do everything we can to ensure that those who are on the frontline, and who are at risk of serious illness, are protected as much as possible so we can futureproof our workforce as much as possible."

A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said the rescheduling of the second vaccine will bring faster protection to greater numbers of people most at risk. She continued: "This will prevent more severe disease, hospitalisation and deaths, and reduce pressures on our health service."

Sunday Life