Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what actions he is taking to ensure every ICB is required to provide specialist post-infection services for children in line with NICE guidance.

Services for post-infection conditions are not classified as specialised under NHS England specialised commissioning and are the responsibility local of integrated care boards which are accountable for providing appropriate services in the local area.

Patients with Long Covid and other post-infection conditions should be managed in line with current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guidance, which, while not mandatory, clinicians and commissioners are expected to take fully into account.

To help improve care for those living with post-infection conditions, the template service specification for mild and moderate myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which is currently being developed in conjunction with NHS England, is set to include Long Covid. The template aims to improve pathways through care for patients with Long Covid, ME/CFS, and other related conditions.