frequently asked questions

Many patients, doctors, and other health professionals are left without evidence-based information. Long Covid Scientific Consultancy aims to rectify that. For example, there are tests that can be done at home which validly show the nervous system is not working properly. This information can be useful to help monitor progress, and ideally doctors would take the information seriously, spurring treatment or a referral. 

Equally, lots of patients and health professionals encourage exercise, but this may be doing more harm than good. The long COVID space is full of ideas and protocols which can get overwhelming. Long Covid Scientific Consultancy aims to help make sense of it all so patients and others can make evidence-based decisions. 

Basically, if you have questions or need other forms of support relating to long COVID or similar, Long Covid Scientific Consultancy offers you the opportunity to ask an active researcher (who has lived experience) in the field. See here for more information of what kind of things I can support you with.

My research has focused on long COVID and long COVID-like vaccine injuries, particularly focusing on the role of COVID-specific things like the spike protein. Therefore I feel long COVID is the area I have expertise in. I am able to discuss diseases that are common in long COVID, such as ME, POTS, and MCAS, even if they were not caused by COVID-19. However, there may be some nuances that I am less familiar with or not aware of. For example, I am not a Lyme disease expert, so I am not best placed to discuss Lyme-specific testing or treatment. I will always do my best to let you know if I am less equipped or completely lack the expertise to give information to help avoid you being mislead in any way. We can discuss whether this service is right for you. 

No. Long Covid Scientific Consultancy is not selling or promoting a protocol. I believe every patient is different and no single protocol will help or cure everyone. This service aims to help patients and others understand the growing evidence regarding long COVID and similar illnesses. I can give the evidence behind products and protocols, and I can support you in testing different products and/or protocols you are interested in, but this should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the product and/or protocol. 

A report aims to summarise our discussion. Depending on what we discuss, this might include:

• A summary of your symptoms
• Home tests or monitoring equipment that might help you see what is wrong
• Medical tests that might be useful to ask for
• Diagnoses that seem important to explore
• Signposting to further information or support

This can be helpful so we can engage in discussion and you do not need to worry about note taking, which can be particularly useful if you have cognitive problems, like brain fog. I might also add in extra thoughts that come to mind whilst preparing the report. 

Although the report is for you, you may wish to take it to your doctor or medical team, or have another purpose in mind. I cannot guarantee they will do anything with it but it might give them some direction regarding what tests might be useful to rule in or out possible diagnoses. As you may have a particular purpose in mind for your report, please let me know if there is specific information you want included. I am happy to tailor these to suit your needs, providing I believe they are an accurate representation of your situation. 

When booked with an appointment, a report costs an additional £25 (or and extra £5 per head for group reports) and will be invoiced separately, so you do not need to decide if you want one until we have our consultation. Bespoke reports outwith the context of an appointment + report "bundle", extra costs may apply (see here for information). 

For healthcare professionals and other health specialists, a report is included in the price. This will be less tailored than patient reports, with a heavier focus on things like clinical guidelines that can be useful. 

You do not need to send any information before your appointment. However, it can be helpful to send the following in advance (ideally at least 48 hours before our appointment):

✅ Bullet point list of your aims for our meeting

✅ Specific test results you would like help understanding

✅ Particular topics you are interested in discussing (e.g. protocols, treatments, diagnoses)

✅ Brief history, especially if this will be helpful for you (e.g. if you are worried you will forget something) 

In our appointment, we will usually discuss your aims for our meeting, symptoms, test results, any treatments you have tried, and any diagnoses you have had (including any that have been ruled out). Therefore, there is no need to send me the following in advance:

❌ Detailed information on your medical history

❌ Every test you have had

❌ A copy of your medical record or similar

However, it may be helpful for you to have these to hand in our appointment in case you need to check something

I usually try to read everything I get sent in advance, however, this may not be possible, or may incur extra charges if:

• Information is sent less than 48 hours before our meeting: I may not be able to read through everything
• There is a lot of information to go through: If I need to spend more than 1 hour reading through information that has been sent, this may incur a fee at my standard rate of £50 per 30 minutes or £75 per hour (above the 1 hour I would normally spend preparing). I will discuss with you if this is the case so you will not receive an unexpected invoice

No. I am not a medical doctor and therefore do not give medical advice or write prescriptions. This is a scientific advisory service only and does not give medical advice. I cannot diagnose, I cannot prescribe medications, and I cannot recommend treatments. We can discuss ideas that you are interested in, and I can signpost you to guidelines and tests, but any treatments should be under medical supervision. This service does not constitute as medical supervision. 

We can discuss the pros and cons of medications, when they may be more or less helpful, etc, but this should not be interpreted as medical advice or a recommendation/endorsement.  We can discuss interpretations of test results but this should not be construed as any form of diagnosis. Only licenced healthcare professionals should provide medical advice and prescriptions. 

Please don't worry! I understand this disease is unpredictable. Please email me as soon as possible to let me know. The choice is then yours:

1. We can reschedule for no extra cost. I will try and see you as soon as possible
2. We can cancel your appointment. If less than 24 hours notice is given, this will incur a £25 charge, and the rest will be refunded. If more than 24 hours notice is given, you will get a full refund

This same policy applies to healthcare professionals and other health specialists too, and is highlighted on our legal stuff page. 

Yes. I understand problems with light and sound sensitivity, as well as the energy cost of appointments like this. Please make yourself comfortable. For example, you may wish to wear sunglasses, lie down, and/or have the cameras off. We can also stop appointments early if you need to rest and come back to them another day at no extra cost. You do not need to explain yourself to me! 

If speaking is a problem, please email me and we can have an email consultation where I will send you some questions and you can reply in your own time. I am obviously limited in how else to help in such situations, but open to ideas. Please let me know if there's something I have not considered that would be helpful. 

Children should not be forgotten in this pandemic. I am happy to discuss children's cases though my expertise is with adults. This means I may be more likely to need to consult others to advise safely and appropriately. This will require extra consent to share health information; we will discuss if this is needed and any data will remain confidential unless consent is given to discuss with others. 

In Scotland, under data protection laws, children aged 12 years and over must provide consent to handle their health data, if they are capable of doing so. Parents/guardians can book an appointment and complete the consent form on the booking page, but I will also need consent from the young person. This can be done a number of ways, depending on your child’s abilities and needs, for example:

• They can complete the online consent form
• They can email me directly stating that they give consent for me to process their data
• They can join the beginning of the meeting and verbally or non-verbally (e.g. a thumbs up) give consent
• You can send a video recording of them saying they give consent

I basically need something reasonable to show the young person has consented; if you have other ideas, please do enquire. I want to make this as easy as possible, whilst working within the law. 

Children (i.e. those under the age of 18 years) must be accompanied by a parent or guardian in our consultation, but parents/guardians can represent the child alone once consent has been established in those aged 12 years or over. 

Standard appointment times are on Tuesdays and Fridays between 1pm and 7pm (UK time zone). If this is not suitable for you for any reason, please contact me and we can arrange an alternative. 

If you are struggling financially but need to talk, please contact me and we will see if we can work something out on an individual basis. 

No, I can speak to anyone from any country, providing they understand English. Please also consider that my knowledge of the healthcare system is skewed to the UK, for example, I will be able to discuss UK NICE and SIGN guidelines better than guidelines in other countries, and I know what tests are available in the UK better than other countries. 

The privacy policy can be found on the booking page. Other legal information can be found by clicking the "Legal stuff" link at the bottom of this page.