Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve coordination of care for long covid patients who require multi-disciplinary support.

Across the NHS in England, there are services supporting people with post-COVID syndrome (long COVID). These services offer physical, cognitive and psychological assessment, and, where appropriate, refer patients onto existing services for treatment and rehabilitation. More information is available on the NHS England website at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/post-covid-syndrome-long-covid/.

Since April 2024, the commissioning of post-COVID services has been the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs), following the closure of the national post-COVID programme.

NHS England has published commissioning guidance for post-COVID services, which sets out the commissioning, service requirements and oversight of post-COVID services by ICBs in England for adults and children and young people. It outlines the elements that post-COVID services should include and the principles of care for long COVID. The commissioning guidance is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-guidance-for-post-covid-services-for-adults-children-and-young-people/.

People with long COVID symptoms should see their GP, who will be able to refer them to services depending on their clinical needs.