The medical staff left battling long Covid

Dr Kelly Fearnley said she was given just a blue surgical mask for work in a Covid ward

Two West Yorkshire medics left with long Covid after working on the pandemic front line have said their protective equipment was inadequate.

Bradford doctor Kelly Fearnley and Huddersfield palliative care nurse Claire Leyland have both been left with debilitating medical problems.

Dr Fearnley is among hundreds now taking legal action against the NHS.

The NHS said it had acted in line with infection prevention control guidance.

Dr Fearnley, a foundation doctor for Bradford Teaching Hospitals, said in spring 2020 she agreed to graduate early from medical school to help the NHS through the pandemic.

She told the BBC that initially she was given full respiratory protective equipment when working on Covid wards.

However, she said there was a "sudden downgrading" in national guidance on personal protective equipment (PPE).

Dr Fearnley says she has been unable to return to work

She said: "In the November of 2020, the Delta variant was driving a second wave of infection and I was deployed to a Covid ward to help with overwhelmed medical colleagues.

"When I walked on to the ward, there was a box of blue surgical masks."

She said she was "likely exposed to significantly high viral loads" on the ward and tested positive within days.

She said as a "34-year-old fit and healthy woman" she expected to recover quickly, but when she went back to work she had to leave after two hours.

Dr Fearnley has been unable to return to work due to symptoms such as breathlessness, sleep apnoea, auditory hallucinations and a high resting heart rate.

She said: "I spent the first year housebound and the second year bedbound.

"I feel fortunate that my trajectory seems to be one of slow improvement, although I am still experiencing symptoms on a day-to-day basis."

'I've nearly died twice'

Dr Fearnley is part of the group Long Covid Doctors for Action and is among those taking legal action against the NHS in a group litigation by legal firm Bond Turner.

Claire Leyland, a former palliative care team leader with the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, said she supported the group and wanted to join them.

Mrs Leyland said she caught Covid in December 2020 while working at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

She said this led to "three years of hell and back".

"Covid has ripped my family apart.

"I've nearly died twice, my children have had to say goodbye to me twice and I'm not out of the woods yet by any means."

Claire Leyland said she provided her own face visor for work in hospitals

She said NHS England guidance meant she and other staff were using blue surgical masks, aprons and gloves "90% of the time" when treating Covid patients, with more extensive PPE only used if patients were on breathing equipment such as ventilators.

She said: "I 100% categorically think that led to me catching Covid."

'Lessons to be learnt'

An NHS spokesperson said it acted in line with infection prevention control guidance developed by a group of organisations including Public Health agencies, the Department of Health and Social Care and the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said the government had acted to save lives and livelihoods through the pandemic.

"We have always said there are lessons to be learnt from the pandemic and we are committed to learning from the COVID-19 Inquiry’s findings which will play a key role in informing the government’s planning and preparations for the future," they added.