“It’s like having the worst flu and being hung over all at the same time,” she said.
“Every day I make the decision to get out of bed and to make the best of everything I can whilst feeling rubbish.”
Official figures last collected in 2023 estimated 94,000 people in the North East had long Covid, with 64,000 experiencing symptoms for more than a year. The region had the highest proportion of people with the condition.
Six years on from the pandemic, Thompson said there were “hundreds of thousands of people” in the UK with significant long Covid who could not work and were “not acknowledged”.
“I never thought I’d be someone who’d need to claim benefits. I was a doctor, I was going to be working, and I can’t and that’s devastating,” she said.
A spokesperson for the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board said demand for long Covid clinics had reduced over time and patients’ needs had changed.
“With that in mind, we are moving away from long Covid clinics and instead letting each person’s treatment be guided by their symptoms so they are referred to the most appropriate specialist for their needs,” the spokesperson said.