Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to support adults with long-term (a) physical and (b) mental health problems as a result of (a) covid-19 lockdowns and (b) remote working.

Several steps have been taken to support people with physical and mental health issues that have arisen from lockdown or remote working and prevent long-term complications.

NHS England and NHS Improvement launched ‘Your Covid Recovery’, a platform dedicated to helping people conquer the after-effects of COVID-19. The platform includes a range of information on how COVID-19 can affect someone’s mind and body – including possible interactions with cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions, and diabetes, and information for friends, families, and carers. It offers advice on how people can make sure they continue eating well, sleeping well, and exercising after having the disease.

Steps have been taken to increase access to health services at home and increase awareness across a wide range of physical health issues during the pandemic. This includes providing blood pressure monitors to people with high blood pressure who are shielding across England and free vitamin D supplements to those deemed to be high risk. In addition to this, guidance has been produced across several areas to increase awareness and provide digital resources for maintaining physical health. This includes the Health and Safety Executive guidance on home working and NHS England and NHS Improvement leading stakeholder guidance on maintaining musculoskeletal health, as well as digital weight management resources.

On mental health, the National Health Service has worked hard to keep mental health services going during the pandemic, utilising technology where needed but also face to face appointments where appropriate. All mental health trusts have established 24 hours a day, seven days a week urgent mental health helplines where people experiencing a mental health crisis can access support and advice.

To further support people’s mental health in the context of COVID-19, and the winter months, we have published our Wellbeing and Mental Health Support Plan for COVID-19 setting out the steps we have taken to strengthen the support available for people who are struggling, our commitments to ensure services are there to support those who need it, and the provision in place to keep our frontline workers well.