St Luke's Hospital's long Covid care on Channel 4's Dispatches

A behind-the-scenes look at how staff at St Luke’s Hospital have dealt with its long Covid patients will feature on Channel 4’s Dispatches programme.

‘The Truth About Long Covid’, will explore the ground-breaking work of respiratory consultant Dr Paul Whitaker and his team at St Luke’s Hospital.

In Bradford there are predicted to be more than 4,000 people suffering with long-term symptoms.

Hope you can tune in Monday at 8pm @Channel4 to watch our latest film about Long Covid all filmed at @BTHFT @Mel_Pickup Really grateful to our BRADFORD NHS heroes on @31_respiratory & @drpaulwhitaker Long Covid clinic who are leading the way nationally! https://t.co/YquOwycD54

— Sally Ogden (@SallyOgdenTV) March 11, 2021

It has also seen some of the worst infection rates in the country with 1 in 10 people contracting the disease.

Patients at St Luke’s who suffer from long Covid see a specialist nurse and fill out a range of questionnaires on their experiences with the virus, are asked to try a six-minute walking test by a physiotherapists and have a nutritional assessment with a hospital dietician.

This will be followed by X-rays and a consultation with Dr Whitaker. He says he expects to treat patients for two to three years after they initially test positive for the virus.

Dr Paul Whitaker

He also lifted the lid on the psychological effects of long Covid, saying some patients do not want to leave their homes, suffer from anxiety and even have suicidal thoughts.

The programme features the lives of Bradfordians who have been effected by long Covid. These include Paula McCarten and her husband Peter and Shazad Razwan, the latter who tested positive for coronavirus in March last year.

Long Covid sufferers Paula and Peter McCarten

Kelly, a nurse on Bradford Royal Infirmary’s (BRI’s) Covid ward, is also featured. She first contracted the virus in May last year while working on the ward but is seen as one of the success stories of treatment for long Covid as she is seen in the programme gearing up to be allowed to return to work.

She said: “Some days are just hard.

“I do feel I am over the worst of it. I miss being on the ward and being in the middle of it.”

BRI nurse Kelly

Grandmother-of-three Mrs McCarten, a prison nurse, left BRI in September last year after battling the virus for 135 days.

She spent 98 days in intensive care and now goes to the clinic at St Luke’s.

She said: “It does seem to affect you mentally.

“Before all this, we were quite active. Our life now is in our home.

I feel like I’m going forward, but it’s a really long road ahead. But I’m a fighter and I will do it

Shazad Razwan

The documentary also includes the roads to recovery for other frontline health workers who have been struck down by Covid and then suffered from long Covid.

Symptoms of long Covid include ongoing fatigue, loss of taste or smell, respiratory and cardiovascular problems and mental health issues.

It is estimated that 500,000 people across the country are suffering from long Covid, defined as people having symptoms going on beyond 12 weeks.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is among more than 60 sites in the country where people can get specialist help for long Covid.

The assessment centres are taking referrals from GPs for people experiencing brain fog, anxiety, depression, breathlessness, fatigue and other debilitating symptoms.

Research has shown one in five people with coronavirus develop longer-term symptoms.

Filming took place over three months at St Luke’s Hospital and also on BRI’s Covid ward 31 from the beginning of December last year.

Sally Ogden, the documentary's producer and director, who is from Bradford

Sally Ogden, the documentary’s producer and director of Candour Productions, said: “Bradford hospitals were six months ahead of the game on long Covid.

“It’s such a new disease. People were not believed at first. Bradford responded very quickly to it.

“It’s been a lifesaver to have that clinic in Bradford.

“It was a privileged access for the hospital to let us film in these circumstances at this time, in order to tell the story of long Covid.”

Dr Whitaker said: “Nobody fully understands why some people are getting long Covid.

“We’ve had two patients who have come to clinic frankly suicidal.

“A lot of my knowledge about Long Covid has come from the patients they’ve tried different rehab techniques and so actually to get their feedback on a weekly basis is really useful.”

The 30-minute long documentary is on Channel 4 tonight at 8pm.