AQW 6061/17-22

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 18/08/2020
Answered On Date: 20/01/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health whether he will be issuing guidance to support Heath and Social Care Trusts in designing post-COVID-19 rehabilitation services.

Answer:

The National Institute for Care and Health Excellence (NICE) published a rapid guideline on the management of the long-term effects of Covid-19 on 18 December 2020. The guideline can be accessed at https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng188.

The guideline defines “post-Covid-19 syndrome” for those people with Covid-19 whose symptoms have not resolved by 12 weeks. It has been automatically accepted for Northern Ireland and should now be applied across the HSC sector. The guideline will be fully considered alongside the wider body of emerging evidence and research, to inform future policy and service decisions in Northern Ireland.

The Health & Social Care Board has been asked to initiate work on the nature and form of multidisciplinary assessment services that should be available for those with “post-COVID-19 syndrome” in Northern Ireland, acknowledging the clinic based approach announced for England.