Long Covid: Children and Young People
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of NHS Care Pathways and research funding for children and young people with Long COVID; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that paediatric Long COVID patients receive appropriate clinical investigation.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
As set out in 2025’s myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), final delivery plan, NHS England has been asked to produce guidance to support systems with commissioning and delivering services, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. The scope of this work has widened to include other post-infection conditions, such as post-COVID syndrome, also known as Long Covid. Engagement with people and carers with lived experience, clinicians, and commissioners is underway.
Post-COVID commissioning guidance was last updated in 2024 and is being incorporated into this work, with further information available at the following link:
Since April 2024, in line with the National Health Service operating framework and the establishment of integrated care systems, the commissioning of services to support patients with Long Covid, including children, has been the responsibility of integrated care boards. Where local Long Covid services are not available, children and young people with Long Covid symptoms should see their general practitioner, who will be able to refer them to alternative existing services depending on their clinical needs and symptoms.
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which welcomes applications for funding for research into any aspect of health and care, including Long Covid in children and young people.
The NIHR has funded research specifically focused on Long Covid in children and young people, including the approximately £1.9 million CLoCk study jointly funded by the NIHR and the Medical Research Council. Other research projects supported through the NIHR’s infrastructure schemes are investigating the neurological impacts of Long Covid in children and young people and the biological characterisation of Long Covid in this population.
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