'Breaking Free from Long Covid' written by Dr Lucy Gahan

NHSOS highly recommend reading this heartfelt and honest account of a doctor suffering with the debilitating effects of Long Covid to anyone suffering with chronic illness. NHSOS work with doctors and healthcare practitioners suffering with Long Covid and this book highlights the struggles facing many people often described as 'Long Haulers' fighting a myriad of unpredictable, ongoing and life changing symptoms following their infection with the COVID-19 virus.

One particular paragraph stands out to us at NHSOS when Dr Lucy Gahan writes;

My most distressing experiences of being disbelieved have been in face-to-face encounters with some medical professionals.  As a white, female professional working for the NHS, I consider myself to be in a relatively privileged position.  The odds of being taken seriously by other professionals are in my favour.  However, several times I have found myself feeling powerless in front of a doctor who attributes my symptoms to physical manifestations of anxiety, and I've had little success with changing their minds.  What chance would I have convincing them if I was anything other than a white professional?

Page 36.  

This is an important acknowledgement of the difficulties facing many patients across the United Kingdom, including medical professionals who have indeed become the patient as a result of their illness.

NHSOS work outside of the NHS and are an independent Community Interest Company. We acknowledge the importance of providing support which validates and legitimises any form of physical and mental illness. We offer our group members, doctors and healthcare practitioners suffering with ill health regular, accessible and subsidised support online, providing a caring environment where our healthcare professionals can recover themselves.