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 impact on clinical support staff of referring patients with long covid to ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome specialist services.

While no assessment has been made, NHS England has published commissioning guidance for post-Covid services which sets out the principles of care for people with long COVID.

There is also specific advice for healthcare professionals to manage long COVID. Patients should be managed according to current clinical guidance, such as that published and updated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network and the Royal College of General Practitioners. Whilst NICE guidelines are not mandatory, the Government does expect clinicians and healthcare commissioners to take them fully into account.

Commissioning, service provision and staffing for both myalgic encephalomyelitis services and long COVID services are the responsibility of local integrated care boards.