Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 review the (a) necessity and (b) frequency of annual reviews within NHS Continuing Health Care; and whether he plans to adjust those requirements.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care outlines the necessity and frequency of NHS Continuing Healthcare reviews. A review should be undertaken within three months of the eligibility decision being made, and then on at least an annual basis. Reviews should primarily focus on whether the care plan or arrangements remain appropriate to meet the individual’s needs. It is expected that, in the majority of cases, there will be no need to reassess for eligibility. The frequency, format and attendance at reviews should be proportionate to the situation in question.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 ensure that referrals for ME/CFS are not rejected solely on the basis of a long covid diagnosis being mentioned in GP notes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We published the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Final Delivery Plan on 22 July 2025. The plan focuses on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease.
Within the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan’s actions, NHS England will co-design resources, including a template specification for systems to improve services for mild and moderate ME/CFS. Additionally, the Department of Health and Social Care, with NHS England, will explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care for very severe ME/CFS.
The template specification for mild and moderate ME/CFS will be developed nationally through engagement with stakeholders, drawing on local expertise and models, and existing evidence.
In order to improve awareness and understanding of ME/CFS amongst healthcare professionals, the Department is working with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme on ME/CFS, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes.
Commissioning of post-viral services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and the output of the above engagement aims to support ICBs with their local commissioning decisions based on their local population needs.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to (a) reinstate and (b) establish dedicated long covid support services in St Helier and Epsom.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The St George’s, Epsom and St Helier NHS Foundation Trust’s chronic fatigue service had a waiting list of 350 patients waiting 25 weeks or more for their first appointment. To manage this, the trust temporarily paused new referrals from June. During the temporary pause, the service will continue to care for existing patients. Any new patients who were referred before the pause will still be offered an appointment within 25 weeks.
The St George’s, Epsom and St Helier NHS Foundation Trust continues to keep this under review. Patients needing help should still visit their general practice if they are experiencing long COVID symptoms.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 adequacy of the guidance it has issued to healthcare professionals on how to (a) identity different clinical subtypes of long covid and (b) provide appropriate treatment pathways for those diagnosed.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While no specific assessment has been made, there is targeted 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). This is available at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG188
NICE is responsible for keeping its published guidelines up to date and under active surveillance to ensure that they reflect developments in the evidence base and its recommendations on new medicines.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning specialist services that meet the needs of their population, subject to local prioritisation and funding. In the commissioning of services, commissioners should take account of NICE guidance and other best practice.
NHS England has published commissioning guidance for post-COVID (long 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/.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to establish a national database of long covid patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Aggregated historical data remains accessible via the long COVID dashboard on the NHS National Data Platform (Foundry). This dashboard continues to support commissioners and service providers by enabling the monitoring of service activity, evaluation of equity in access and healthcare utilisation, and benchmarking of performance across services.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research is being commissioned by the NHS into potential treatments for long covid.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, the NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, have jointly invested over £57 million into long COVID research with the aim of improving diagnosis and our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the disease, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, and clinical care.
The NIHR has awarded funding to a number of projects and programmes investigating treatments for long COVID. These have included clinical trials to test and compare different treatments such as antihistamines, anticoagulants and anti-inflammatory medicines. The Rehabilitation Exercise and psycholoGical support After COVID-19 InfectioN (REGAIN) trial, funded by NIHR, provided the first high-quality evidence confirming the sustained clinical benefit and lack of harm with rehabilitation programmes for long COVID. The NIHR has also provided £1.1 million in funding towards the Listen trial, which found that participants who received the Listen self-management tool intervention had greater capacity for daily activities, improved mental health, reduced fatigue impact and increased self-efficacy. However, there is more work to be done to find the most promising treatments and interventions, and we are actively exploring next steps for long COVID research.
Together with MRC, we have created a new funding opportunity for a development award focussed on evaluating repurposed pharmaceutical inventions for post-acute infection syndromes and associated conditions, including long COVID. We are also planning a showcase event, hosted by NIHR and MRC, for the research of post-acute infection conditions, including myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and long COVID, later this year to stimulate further research in this field.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many eye care professionals are delivering NHS Special School Eye Care Service under Primary Ophthalmic Service contracts as of March 2025; and how many special schools are in receipt of that service as of March 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England published a range of documents to support the commissioning of sight testing in special educational settings on 25 March 2025, and integrated care boards will now be in the process of planning to procure local services. The scale of the roll out will be dependent on educational establishments choosing to host a service.
There are currently 22 proof-of-concept contractors continuing to deliver the sight testing and dispensing service in 83 day and residential special schools. Data on the number of practitioners delivering the National Health Service special schools eye care service within those contracts is not held centrally.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the rollout of the NHS special schools eye care service will begin; and what his planned timeline is to offer this to all special schools in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England published a range of documents to support the commissioning of sight testing in special educational settings on 25 March 2025, and integrated care boards will now be in the process of planning to procure local services. The scale of the roll out will be dependent on educational establishments choosing to host a service.
There are currently 22 proof-of-concept contractors continuing to deliver the sight testing and dispensing service in 83 day and residential special schools. Data on the number of practitioners delivering the National Health Service special schools eye care service within those contracts is not held centrally.
Asked by: Bobby Dean (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is on track to meet its target for GP appointment waiting times by the end of the Parliament.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to make it easier for everyone to see a general practitioner (GP) when they need to, by improving access to appointments. We will bring back the family doctor, train thousands more GPs, guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one, and end the 8:00am scramble for appointments by delivering a modern booking system.
We have invested £82 million into ARRS (Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme) which has enabled the recruitment of over 1,500 recently qualified GPs across England since October 2024 which will increase the number of appointments available, benefitting thousands of patients that are struggling to access care.
We’ve also just delivered the biggest boost to GP funding in years, with an £889 million uplift to the GP Contract for 2025/26, with GPs now receiving a growing share of National Health Service resources. For the first time in four years, the General Practitioners Committee England backed the new contract, which includes key reforms to improve access, for instance by making sure patients can request appointments online throughout core hours.