Question reference: S6W-25997
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 6 March 2024
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Current status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 March 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guidelines recommending that long COVID patients should have support from a doctor-led integrated service, what its response is to reported concerns that this is not uniformly followed across NHS boards, which may risk exacerbating any health inequalities in accessing care.
Answer
Section 8.1 of the ‘COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19’ developed jointly by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) recommends to “provide access to multidisciplinary services, if available, [. . .] for assessing physical and mental health symptoms and carrying out further tests and investigations. Services should be led by a doctor with relevant skills and experience and appropriate specialist support, taking into account the variety of presenting symptoms.”
The rationale section of the guideline relating to this recommendation notes that “1 model would not fit all areas” and “in areas where multidisciplinary services are not available, services may be provided through integrated and coordinated primary care, community, rehabilitation and mental health services.”