Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Northern Ireland Department of Health on working together on (a) research and (b) treatment for people with long covid.

The Department has not had any specific discussions in relation to working together on research and treatment for long COVID with Northern Ireland’s Department of Health.

The Department of Health and Social Care funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR, through the Department, has had an arrangement with the devolved administrations, including in Northern Ireland, since 2008, based on investments from each nation that has allowed research hosts, including universities and research active National Health Service organisations, to apply for NIHR funding through the majority of our research programmes. This enables devolved nation-based researchers to lead studies across the range of health and social care priorities, and, importantly, allows more people to participate in an expanded range of research initiatives.