Huge fall in NHS Long Covid clinics, study finds

New research has revealed the number of NHS clinics for people living with Long Covid has more than halved, from a peak of 120 services in 2022 to 46 today.

Services for children and young people are also affected with 13 specialists hubs reduced to eight.

The BBC also discovered the NHS in England no longer monitored the status of Long Covid clinics and stopped doing so nearly a year ago.

Spokespeople for NHS England and the Department of Health confirmed they were no longer tracking how many Long Covid clinics were still operating.

Birmingham-based charity Long Covid Support used Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to ask hospitals about what clinics they have for patients.

Margaret O'Hara, from the group, said changes in the way clinics were funded inside the NHS had led to many services being merged or stopped altogether.

She told the BBC many parts of the NHS were "struggling to cope" and the picture for patients was one of "utter confusion".

After the initial infection with coronavirus, rather than getting better, patients are instead left dealing with any number of problems including fatigue, pain and breathing difficulties.

For many, getting any sort of diagnosis let alone treatment in a specialist NHS clinic is a long and sometimes fruitless journey, according to the support group.

In a survey of patients affected by the condition, a spokesperson for Long Covid Support said they found about half of those they talked to considered themselves disabled by the condition.

A similar number of adults surveyed also said they were not followed up by a healthcare professional and still had ongoing symptoms, despite when the NHS discharged them from treatment.

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Source: BBC News, 17 March 2025

Further reading on the hub:

• "Why should a vulnerable person be expected to tolerate lack of protections against Covid?"