Provision of follow-up services for survivors of COVID-19 critical illness: A UK national survey.

Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) survivors in the United Kingdom (UK) can receive support from ICU follow-up services in their process of recovery and rehabilitation. However, it is unclear whether the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the ability of UK hospitals to provide follow-up. The objective of this study was to evaluate the provision of follow-up services in the UK for adult survivors of COVID-19 critical illness.

Methods: All adult National Health Service (NHS) ICUs in the UK were invited to participate. Intensive care clinicians aware of follow-up services offered at their site were invited to complete a self-administered online electronic survey. Free text answers were thematically analysed.

Results: 174 of 242 (71.9%) NHS hospitals responded to the survey. 140 (80.5%) of the respondent hospitals had an ICU follow-up service for survivors of COVID-19 critical illness. A new service was created at 28 (16.1%) hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. ICU follow-up services were mostly delivered by nurses (125/140, 89.3%), ICU doctors (111/140, 79.3%), physiotherapists (88/140, 62.9%) and psychologists (59/140, 42.1%). Where ICU follow-up services already existed, changes were made in 111 (79.3%) hospitals during the pandemic and these were maintained in 89 (80.2%) hospitals. Funding was a commonly reported reason for whether follow-up services were offered.

Conclusions: There was an expansion in the number of ICU follow-up clinics, and the multidisciplinary team delivering post-ICU care to patients who survived COVID-19 critical illness. Many changes to clinic operations introduced during the pandemic persisted, including the use of virtual and hybrid follow-up clinic models.