Impact of long Covid on ethnic minority healthcare workers investigated

Study will look at long Covid in healthcare workers - UCL academics will play a key role in a new three-year study investigating the long-term health impact of Covid-19 on NHS healthcare workers from diverse ethnic backgrounds and roles. Launched by the NHS Race and Health Observatory the 'REACH-OUT' study, builds on 'UK-REACH' (United Kingdom Research study into Ethnicity And COVID-19 outcomes in Healthcare workers), which is led by the University of Leicester in collaboration with UCL, University of Nottingham, national stakeholders and front-line healthcare workers. Data has already been collected from over 18,000 healthcare workers from a range of ethnic groups, around a quarter of whom contracted Covid-19, as part of earlier mixed-methods studies conducted by UK-REACH. As part of UK-REACH, baseline data collected between December 2020 and July 2021 from ethnic minority healthcare workers will now be analysed with data updated to reflect participants' feedback over time as part of the new study, which starts this December. Feedback from participants through further questionnaires, structured interviews and focus groups will examine levels of support, availability, and effectiveness of various treatments for managing the impacts of acute and long-Covid. A key area of focus will be the type of support systems currently in place and the lived experiences and perceptions of healthcare workers, including lessons learnt and implications to aid speedier recoveries. The term 'long covid'* is commonly used to describe signs and symptoms that continue or develop after acute COVID-19.