Long covid sick pay axed

NHS staff with lingering illness fear the removal of support will plunge many into poverty

- VIVIENNE AITKEN

NHS staff suffering with long Covid fear they will be plunged into poverty after the Scottish Government decided to halt unlimited sick pay.

Many people are still struggling with the condition more than two years after the initial infection.

But health workers say the halting of the open-ended sick pay for Covid next month will force them to food banks.

From August 31, pre-Covid sick leave arrangements will apply.

For many, that will mean six months of full pay and six months on half pay. Newer staff members will get less.

One ambulance worker was off work for more than a year and is still struggling to return to full duties because of breathlessness.

The worker, who asked not to be identified, said: "I would have gone on to half pay after six months. I don't know how I would have survived.

"It was really quite frightening seeing how you could get that seriously ill without any previous medical history at all.

"I did try to return to work after a few months off but, by the time I climbed the stairs at a patient's house, I was so out of breath I couldn't do anything so occupational health signed me back off.