Long Covid and Critical Service Occupations: impact on Employees and Organisations

Lay summary: Around 1.8 million people in the UK have Covid-related symptoms 12 weeks or more after Covid infection. This affects their daily lives and ability to work. Because Long Covid is a new condition, we are unsure about the best ways to support people to recover from Long Covid and return to work. We want to understand what having Long Covid is like for people working in demanding ‘frontline’ occupations – such as nurses, teachers, paramedics and police officers. We also want to understand how employers try to support people to return to work, and how staff absences for Long Covid affect colleagues in these jobs. We will interview 45-60 staff working in these jobs (about 2/3 with Long Covid themselves) and 45-60 people who are in service delivery, workforce planning, support and management roles – such as managers, occupational health staff, and union representatives. Our findings will help organisations to improve support for people with Long Covid.