‘I felt pushed out’: long Covid sufferers fight for fairness in the workplace

Sarah Barley-McMullen says she felt unable to stay in her post as a senior academic as her employers were unwilling to accommodate her needs

• Two-thirds of UK workers with long Covid have faced unfair treatment, says report

Long Covid has had an emotional, social, physical and professional impact on me," says Sarah Barley-McMullen, 53, who felt forced to leave a job she loved, as a senior academic, when she was unable to negotiate a manageable working pattern.

She caught the virus in January 2021, and more than two years later is still experiencing a battery of debilitating symptoms, including hearing loss, mobility problems, rapid changes in heart rate, and an inability to cry, which she says has hit her mental health.