8. Will the Minister provide an update on the provision of services for people in Wales who are suffering from the effects of long COVID? OQ55801

Da iawn. I issued a written statement about long COVID on 23 October. Our approach has focused on research and rehabilitation. Our multiprofessional primary and community health and care services can assess and meet the majority of people's individual needs close to home, with in-patient specialist rehabilitation only where necessary.

Diolch. I've had two constituents in particular who've contacted me about the effects of long COVID. One first experienced symptoms in February—[Inaudible.]—in March and then worsened, and it caused him a great deal of anxiety, as the GP surgery wasn't able to help him with the symptoms of a virus about which medical science is still learning. However, he has been diagnosed with post-viral fatigue. Another constituent has also written to me because in his experience long COVID has prevented him from returning to work. He's self-employed. He's now having financial consequences of this, and he either pays himself sick pay, without an income to do so, or risks possible—[Inaudible.]—damage due to the effects of long COVID on returning to work too early. What measures can the Welsh Government put in place, both in health service provision and financial support, to ensure that people with long COVID aren't forgotten?

I thank the Member for the question. We certainly haven't forgotten the numbers of people who identify with being affected by long COVID, and this is both for those people who have needed hospital treatment, but large numbers of people who had never been into a hospital but are suffering longer term impacts, and I know that is a deeply distressing experience for those people, and that does have an impact on their well-being and an economic impact, particularly if they're not able to return to work. That's both why we've looked at the perspective of what treatment we can provide people as well as the really important aspect of research and learning, because you are right to identify that this is a condition that we don't understand the longer term impacts of. We're still learning more about not just transmission but about impact on people as well.

We're involved in a range of research initiatives across the UK, and I think that's really important, because at the moment we couldn't say we have an exact treatment and rehabilitation regime. What we do have, though, is the provision of our current knowledge and understanding being deployed as close to home as possible, and I think that's really important. There is a risk that we could say that we have one or two national clinics, and actually that wouldn't provide access to most people for their treatment to be dealt with appropriately, and, actually, this is a condition that is mainstream business for our health service. That's why the work that's being led by the chief therapies adviser is so important in making sure that our services in each part of the country understand what they could and should do to help support people with long COVID, and I'd only want to see people going to hospital where it's absolutely necessary.

We're continuing to look at the economic support that we are and aren't able to provide people, both here from the Welsh Government and indeed from the UK Government, about those people who are suffering the direct impacts of this insidious and continuing disease. I've issued one written statement, and I expect to issue more in the future as our knowledge develops and as our understanding of how we genuinely help people develops again in the future.

Thank you, Minister.