My name is Niki Simmons, and I am the Caseload Manager / Nurse within the Long Covid Service.
After spending a couple of years as a nurse in a hospital environment I moved across to Community / District Nursing. Following this I spent over two years in the Community Integrated Response Team, before joining the Long Covid Service.
My roles have given me experience in long term conditions. This experience helps me to manage and understand people’s needs, worries, and fears.
I support the people of Wirral and ensure the service is accessible to all by promoting the service offer and attending events and support groups. I liaise with colleagues in Primary Care to ensure a smooth referral process into the service.
I find my role extremely rewarding and I love how varied it is.
I am not only able to support and assess people within a clinic environment, but I am also able to offer them my experience as a community nurse to listen, identify, signpost, and refer on to other services that may support patients with long covid symptoms.
I also facilitate education sessions and support our service user support group.
I regularly research the condition to try to find new ways to support people’s symptoms. With over 65 million cases of long covid globally, it is extremely surprising how alone and isolated people living with the condition can feel. This debilitating condition can rob a person of everything they have ever known as normal. I pride myself that and I am always available to talk to patients and help them in any way I can.
