Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of what additional NHS services, including rehabilitation, will be required as a result of the neurological complications seen in inpatients with COVID-19.

COVID-19 is a new disease with many new and unexpected complications. Clinicians in the National Health Service have adapted rapidly to this evolving situation and rehabilitation programs for COVID-19 have been developed in many parts of the NHS, providing rehabilitation both in hospital and in the community.

On 29 April, Sir Simon Stevens and Amanda Pritchard published a letter on the second phase of the NHS response to COVID-19, and recommended actions for the next phase including preparing to support the increase in patients who have recovered from COVID-19 and who having been discharged from hospital need ongoing community health support.

The NHS also published guidance on 5 June entitled After-care needs of inpatients recovering from COVID-19, which supports primary care and community health services to meet the immediate and longer-term care needs of patients discharged following an acute episode of COVID-19, by describing the typical expected health care needs of patients post-discharge. These include neuromuscular and neuro-psychological, amongst others.

Copies of the NHS letter and guidance are attached.