Ambulance staff covering Cheshire lost more than 33,000 working days to Long Covid, new figures show.
And some staff have suffered absences lasting more than 12 months, according to a Freedom of Information request to North West Ambulance Service Trust.
The information – obtained by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus – suggests availability of ambulance staff in Cheshire and North West remains badly affected by Long Covid.
The FOI request has revealed between March 2020 and September 2021, 33,654.65 full time equivalent days were lost due to staff experiencing Covid or Covid-related sickness more than 28 days after contracting the virus.
In one case, a member of staff had been absent from work with Covid related sickness for 544 days.
And there were at least four others absent for over a year.
Overall, 398 staff members were absent from work from March 2020 to September 2021 due to Covid-related sickness, for more than 28 days in at least one episode.
According to the most recent ONS statistics, an estimated 1.2 million (1.9% of the population) are living with Long Covid.
Most common symptoms are fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of smell and difficulty concentrating.
According to the APPG, the ambulance trust has stated that they have made adjustments for affected staff and that they are working to support their mental health and wellbeing.
But the stats raise questions about the negative impact Long Covid continues to have on the region’s essential public services.
The APPG on Coronavirus is now calling on the government to recognise Long Covid as an occupational disease.
They are further calling for the introduction of a Long Covid compensation scheme for frontline workers who have been impacted financially by the condition.
Barbara Keeley, MP for Worsley and Eccles South and Vice-Chair of the APPG on Coronavirus, said: “These statistics demonstrate the urgent need to recognise Long Covid as an occupational disease, provide formal guidance to employers on the issue and create a compensation scheme for key workers who have been unable to return to work.
“Many of these workers exposed themselves to the virus while saving others during the darkest days of this pandemic.
“The government cannot continue to ignore the sacrifices they have made while working to protect others.”
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