Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending sick pay support for healthcare staff with long covid.

The Department introduced temporary non-contractual COVID-19 sickness guidance at the start of the pandemic, to ensure National Health Service staff received full pay should they be advised to self-isolate or become ill with COVID-19.

As we learn to live with COVID-19, we have withdrawn this temporary non-contractual COVID-19 guidance. Staff who were on COVID-19 sickness pay have moved back to the normal terms and conditions (T&Cs) sickness arrangements. The NHS T&Cs pay up to six months full pay and six months half pay, depending on length of service. The Department has no plans to assess the potential merits of extending sick pay support for healthcare staff with long COVID-19.