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UK Covid Inquiry – Module 9 | 26 November 2025
Long Covid SOS and Long Covid Support are demanding answers from former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Baroness Thérèse Coffey DBE PC, as she appears before the UK Covid Inquiry (Module 9) on Wednesday 26 November 2025.
The Long Covid groups will challenge the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over the catastrophic lack of financial and employment support for the millions of people whose lives and careers have been devastated by Long COVID.
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“TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE”, VALIDATION FOR PEOPLE WITH LONG COVID
Inquiry exposes government failures behind the Long Covid crisis
Long Covid Groups welcome the Inquiry’s recognition of millions still suffering, and call for urgent national action.
London, 20 November 2025. Long Covid Groups (comprising the UK charities Long Covid Kids, Long Covid SOS, Long Covid Support and UK organisation Long Covid Physio) welcomes the publication of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s second report and its recognition of the devastating, long-term impact of Long Covid.
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We are proud to launch the Overlapping Illness Alliance, a coalition of charities working to improve recognition, care and support for those living with complex, overlapping conditions. Check out our website: https://www.overlappingillnessalliance.org.uk/
The OIA are hosting a drop-in session at the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday 25 November to inform MPs about these illnesses, and what they can do to support. Ask your MP to attend using our simple form: https://dub.sh/OIAdropin
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Date of Webinar: 27 June 2025
Organised by: Long Covid Support and University of Oxford
Presenters: Dr. Maaret Jokela-Pansini, Professor Beth Greenhough, Oonagh Cousins
Watch the full webinar recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oduHaNiiXmI&t=1s
The launch event introduced the new Body Mapping Toolkit, developed through a research project led by the University of Oxford in collaboration with Long Covid Support and people living with Long Covid. The toolkit is designed to support communication, peer connection, and personal reflection. It provides a structured introduction to body mapping and can be used either individually or in peer-support workshops.
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New briefing underscores the devastating impact of proposed PIP cuts on people with Long Covid and ME.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is a vital lifeline for many people living with Long Covid and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME). Our new briefing - produced in collaboration with Long Covid Support, Action for ME, #ThereForME, and ME Local Network - shares evidence from a survey of over 1,200 people with these conditions. However, proposed changes by the UK Government would drastically restrict access to this support, worsening health, driving people further from work, and increasing poverty. Many carers would also be forced to take on more unpaid care, reducing their own ability to work. These impacts directly undermine the government’s stated aims.
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The Event
On March 15th, 2025, Long Covid Support launched its three-year Community Strategy at an event held at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith. Marking Long Covid Awareness Day, it was a deeply moving afternoon that brought the community together under the theme "Coming Together, Reflecting on Our Progress, Shaping What’s Next." It was a moment to recognise how far the Long Covid community has come and to lay out the plan for the road ahead.
Backdropped by the Long Covid Support Community Banner, Trustees Dr Margaret O’Hara and Aimie Cole spoke alongside special guests: Rt Hon Jo Platt MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Long Covid, and Professor Danny Altmann, Trustee and leading Long Covid researcher at Imperial College London.
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INITIAL STATEMENT
Long Covid Support are still fully digesting the proposals in the Green Paper and, having assessed them fully, will contribute to the consultation on the Green Paper. Given the failings of the previous consultation, this needs to be a considered and accessible process, with sufficient time for a response. We would like to trust our submission to be taken into account. Below is our initial statement.
Long Covid Support is disappointed that in announcing changes to social security for disabled people in its Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, the Government has failed to acknowledge the lived reality of the Long Covid community, who we know through our support groups and advisory work are already finding it difficult to access benefits. Indeed, the effect the ongoing Covid pandemic is having on the welfare system has not been acknowledged, despite thousands of new infections and around 100 deaths weekly where Covid is cited on the death certificate.
Estimates of the prevalence of Long Covid vary,but the scale of those affected is undeniably vast. As of March 2024, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that approximately two million people in England and Scotland are living with Long Covid. Of these, 1.5 million experience an adverse impact on their daily activities, with 381,000 severely limited. The condition has persisted for a significant duration in many cases, with over a third of individuals affected for more than two years and many from 2020 now suffering for over four years. Long Covid continues to pose an ongoing risk, with 178,000 new cases emerging during the 16-week survey period in 2023/24.
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Vital Long Covid Services Closing Across the UK Despite Ongoing Need, Our New Report Warns
Read the full report here: Disabled, discharged and disappearing from view
A new report from Long Covid Support & Long Covid Kids reveals that specialist Long Covid services across the UK are shutting down or at risk of closure, leaving thousands without access to essential care.
At its peak, there were over 120 Long Covid services nationwide, but now:
- Only 46 have confirmed they will remain open.
- 31 are under review.
- 24 have already closed or are set to close.
- 20 did not respond.
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The APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) on Long Covid will be meeting on Wednesday 26th February 2025. The meeting is for MPs and Peers only and all Members of the APPG have been invited.
If your MP is not yet a Member, please send them an email asking them to join and to come along to the meeting. A list of current members can be found on the APPG's webpage here. If you are not sure who your MP is, you can search for them here.
To assist, we have drafted some wording for you to copy, paste and adapt:
Subject: Invitation to attend upcoming meeting of the APPG on Long Covid
Dear [insert MP name]
You will have previously received an email from Jo Platt MP inviting you to join the APPG on Long Covid. The next meeting (for MPs and Peers only) is taking place on Wednesday 26th February 2025 at 3:30pm at Portcullis House.
As you know, Long Covid is a life-altering condition that is affecting over 2 million people in the UK, with knock-on impacts being felt far and wide, including on the health service, workforce and economy. Most people know someone with ongoing symptoms following Covid-19 illness. You may have Long Covid yourself, have a family member, friend or colleague with Long Covid, or have had other constituents with Long Covid or their carers reach out to you.
[Tell your personal story if you wish.]
Given the importance, I hope you will join this critical APPG and that you, or your Parliamentary Assistant, can attend the meeting (please contact Jo Platt MP to confirm attendance).
Yours sincerely
[Your name and full address, including postcode]
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Given the current scrutiny around Long Covid clinics in the UK and news of some clinics closing, Long Covid Support wanted to establish the level of services currently available. We sent out Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to each Trust, ICB and Health Board in the UK to determine the services they provide.
The responses to our requests are summarised below, broken down by nation:
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Please note this information relates to the point in time at which the response was received. We’re aware that some services have closed recently. If you’re concerned that your local service has closed, is being closed or is under threat, please visit the website below for advice on what you can do.