Fifteen new paediatric hubs around England will draw together experts on common symptoms of long Covid, such as respiratory problems and fatigue. The hubs will directly treat children and young people, advise GPs on caring for them, or refer them into specialist services and clinics.
The plan to deal with the Covid ‘legacy’ is to be set out at the annual NHS Confederation conference today.
While the majority of children and young people are not severely affected by Covid, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that 7.4 per cent of children aged two- to 11-years-old and 8.2 per cent of those aged 12- to 16-years-old report continued symptoms.
According to the ONS, more than one million people have reported suffering from long Covid. Symptoms include shortness of breath and extreme fatigue with almost a third of sufferers saying it has a significant impact on their daily life.
There is already a network of specialist long Covid clinics which have been given £34m of funding.
Speaking at today’s conference, NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens is expected to say, ‘The NHS has worked hard to care for 400,000 Covid patients requiring hospital treatment and keep essential services going through successive waves and we now need to step up action to deal with the legacy.
‘One of the major health challenges emerging from the pandemic is long Covid with hundreds of thousands of people predicted to suffer debilitating health issues such as breathing problems and fatigue.
‘That is why the NHS is now going to invest £100 million in specialist services, including care for children and young people so that parents know advice is on hand through the new hubs to provide patients and their families with the help, support and care that they need.
‘This is just the latest example of how NHS staff have pulled out all the stops to provide care for those who need it throughout this terrible pandemic.’
The long Covid Hubs for children and young people with be at:
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- South Tees NHS Foundation Trust (James Cook University Hospital)
- Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
- Leeds Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Hull University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool
- Manchester Children’s Hospital
- Birmingham and Solihull Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
- Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland University Hospital Leicester NHS Trust
- Cambridge University Hospitals
- Bristol Children’s hospital
- Oxford University Hospitals
- Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth
- University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
- London hub led by the Evelina, Imperial, UCLH and GOSH