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Patients suffering debilitating respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological symptoms fear they will have nowhere to go after NSW’s first public long COVID clinic abruptly announced its closure after three and a half years.
St Vincent’s Hospital will close its dedicated long COVID service at the end of September, and transition patients into existing respiratory and rehabilitation services, a spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.
A patient is treated by Dr Steven Faux and Dr Morgan Hee at the long COVID unit in St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney.Credit: Louise Kennerley
“With growing knowledge and clinical experience, it is now recognised that post-COVID symptoms are well managed within established specialist chronic and complex care services,” they said in a statement. “Patients will continue to receive the same comprehensive care but within well-established clinical frameworks and with specialist input available as required.”
The multidisciplinary clinic was the first of its kind in NSW when it opened in March 2022 under the leadership of St Vincent’s Hospital’s director of rehabilitation Steven Faux and respiratory physician Anthony Byrne.
Faux told this masthead in January the clinic was fully booked and had treated more than 1000 patients since it opened.
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“I’m not getting less, I’m getting more long COVID referrals,” Faux said at the time. “I’m still seeing people from other states in my rooms because they don’t have access to long COVID clinics.”
Charlotte Sangster, who has suffered multiple hospitalisations and has been unable to work full-time since contracting COVID in November 2023, said she was informed of the decision while attending the clinic for an appointment on Monday.
“I cried when they told me,” she said. “I feel frustrated and abandoned, to be honest.”
Sangster, who lives in the Hawkesbury region north-west of Sydney, said many patients would end up in a “horribly fragmented system” without a dedicated clinic to treat them.
“The government must step in and keep this service open – we have nowhere else to go,” Sangster said.
Sangster has written to Health Minister Ryan Park urging him to provide state funding to keep the clinic open. The Herald has contacted Park.
Charlotte Sangster has asked NSW Health Minister Ryan Park to intervene before the clinic closes at the end of September.Credit: Joseph Matthews
While symptoms vary, the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines long COVID as a condition that presents three months after a COVID-19 infection, persists for at least two months, and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.
A federal parliamentary inquiry in 2023 estimated 4.7 per cent of Australian adults, or about 500,000 people, have symptoms lasting three months or longer after contracting COVID-19.
The inquiry recommended Commonwealth funding towards more purpose-built long COVID clinics in public hospitals that could screen patients with post-infection complications.
A NSW Health spokesperson said most people with long COVID will be supported by their GP but can be referred to specialist cardiology, respiratory or rehabilitation services if they meet certain criteria.
Royal Prince Alfred in Camperdown runs a virtual telehealth long COVID program which accepts referrals from GPs.
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