Barnet has experienced the highest proportion of long-Covid in London, according to a report presented to councillors.

Figures show the borough had 5.8% of GP-recorded cases in London between November 2021 and February 2022, which is higher than other boroughs and above the official forecasts made by the Office for National Statistics.

Long-Covid, which is also known as post-Covid syndrome, is diagnosed when patients have signs and symptoms that develop during or after Covid-19 that continue for more than twelve weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis.

The report, which was presented to a meeting of the council’s health overview and scrutiny committee on Thursday, states that Barnet’s older, less-deprived population has lower rates of some of the known risk factors for long-Covid compared to the rest of London.

The condition is more common among people of working age and is predicted to be higher in more deprived areas, but Barnet has an older, less-deprived population than many other boroughs.

However, Barnet also has a slightly higher proportion of white residents, and rates of the condition are known to be highest in those from a white background. It also has higher rates of some risk factors such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, high BMI (body mass index) and diabetes.

Dr Tamara Djuretic, the council’s director of public health, told the committee that health chiefs had not got to the bottom of why the borough had a higher proportion of long-Covid cases. She said the local long-Covid clinic might be “a victim of its own success” as it it was “working really well in terms of the referral pathways” and added that “primary care clinicians were reporting quite a lot”.

The report states that Barnet’s long-Covid clinic staff felt the referral pathway to the community service was significantly easier than in other boroughs, the community clinic had a strong relationship with primary and acute care, and there were strong links with University College London Hospitals NHS Trust’s post-Covid services.

Dr Djuretic added that clinicians were reporting “good outcomes in terms of recovery” after people had accessed long-Covid services.

Councillors agreed to invite a clinician to a meeting of the committee in February to discuss the long-Covid figures in more detail.