Specialist hubs for children and young people suffering from Long Covid to be set up in Newcastle and Middlesbrough.
Specialist services for children and young people suffering from Long Covid will be set up in Newcastle and Middlesbrough.
The paediatric hubs at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and James Cook University Hospital are part of NHS plans to spend £100m on helping people with the condition. It will bring together experts on common symptoms such as breathing problems and fatigue.
£30 million will also go to GPs in the hopes of improving diagnosis and care for those with Long Covid.
Some estimates suggest that:
Symptoms include shortness of breath and extreme fatigue with almost a third of sufferers saying it has a significant impact on their daily life.
Sir Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, will set out the plan to deal with the Covid 'legacy' at the annual NHS Confederation conference.
He 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.
"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."