LOng COvid Multidisciplinary Consortium: Optimising Treatments and servIces Across the NHS (LOCOMOTION)

Background: Long Covid (LC) affects over one million people in the UK, it has various symptoms and impacts daily life. Although there are 83 LC clinics in England, most people have not had access to them, and waiting times to be seen are long. We realise the urgency for LC patients to access prompt and appropriate care in clinics and doctors' surgeries, as well as manage their symptoms effectively at home. Aim:Our research aims to produce a 'gold standard' for care by analysing what is happening to patients now, creating new systems of care and evaluating them to establish best practice. Outline Of Research: This research has been developed with LC patients and will continue to include patients working as equal partners. Key priorities of LC patients are: correct clinical assessment; advice and treatment; and help with returning to work and other roles. This research is also based on the experience of a wide range of NHS professionals already treating people in ten LC clinics across the UK, and led by academics (universities) with links to other LC funded studies. The research will take place in three settings: LC clinics; at home (including self-monitoring on a mobile device using a set of questions on symptoms built into an app); and in doctors' surgeries. We will track where patients are being referred or not referred, and learn from the experience of clinics by interviewing patients and recording outcomes. Throughout, specialists in 'Healthcare Inequality' will reach people who are not accessing clinics. We will put in place new processes in clinics and doctors' surgeries, monitored throughout to make sure they are the correct standard, accessible for patients and staff, and cost-effective. Outcomes: Comparing findings across our partnership of ten LC Clinics we will learn more about treatment, providing real-time education to other healthcare staff and patients, and establishing a 'gold standard' that can be shared within England and the rest of the UK.