Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2025 to Question 39995 on Long Covid: Clinics, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the delivery of long covid care by integrated care boards.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services for people with long COVID. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local need and priorities, and to improve outcomes.

To support clinical leadership in this area, NHS England has worked in partnership with the British Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine to establish the Clinical Post-COVID Society to facilitate the ongoing sharing of best practice, to support people affected by long COVID. Further information about the society can be found at the following link:

https://www.clinicalpcs.org.uk/

Earlier this year, NHS England completed a long COVID stocktake, aiming to provide a nationwide overview of service delivery in commissioning and contracting, assessing access, activity, and outcomes. The findings confirmed the widely recognised challenges of significant variation in care delivery across England and a lack of comprehensive activity data.

Executive NHS England board members were updated on the current provision of long COVID services, noting those challenges. Discussions considered service prioritisation and potential COVID Inquiry recommendations.