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 implement the recommendations made by NICE in the House of Commons Coronavirus: Long Covid Research Briefing, published on 31 October 2024 for future research into the management of long covid.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) research recommendations for managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 were made in 2020 and 2021. Since this time, the Government has invested £58 million in research through two specific funding calls to better understand long COVID and how to treat it. Many of the funded research projects address the NICE’s research recommendations.

As findings emerge from the current research, we encourage researchers to apply for funding to build on and develop the newly established infrastructure, partnerships, and research capabilities. Government research funders remain available to support long COVID researchers in their applications for funding. For example, the National Institute for Health and Care Research has an open call for applications to meet the research recommendations identified in NICE guidance.