The South West Long COVID Hub
The South West long COVID hub for children and young people was
set up in September 2021, and offered multi-disciplinary
assessments with advice and support for children and young people
with suspected long COVID. Please note, as of Monday
27 February 2023, this service is no longer accepting new
referrals.
Current Paediatric Pathway for Long Covid in the South
West
NHS England have advised that long COVID in children and young
people will be treated as 'business as usual', with GPs referring
into local paediatric teams if necessary for the treatment and
management of the child.
For further help
Parents/carers
If you are a parent and you think your child has long COVID,
please talk to your GP. You may find further information on long
COVID on the Long Covid Kids website.
Paediatricians
If you have a child or young person with persistent fatigue
symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks and you would like an
assessment and advice on treatment, then please make a referral to
the Royal United Hospitals (RUH) Bath Paediatric Specialist Fatigue
Service. For further information on the RUH Specialist Fatigue
Service please visit the service's website which can be found
at:
Specialist Treatment for Children & Young People with Fatigue |
Royal United Hospitals Bath (ruh.nhs.uk)
If you are caring for a child or young person with other complex
symptoms associated with long COVID (including neurology,
cardiology, respiratory medicine, infectious diseases, fatigue,
general paediatrics and/or psychology) please refer directly to the
desired speciality as per usual pathways and processes.
The South West Regional Paediatric Clinical Lead for Long Covid,
Dr Richard Tozer, will be offering an advice and guidance service
to paediatricians in the region. Further information about
how paediatricians will be able to access this service will be
circulated directly by NHS England in due course.
GPs
If you are a GP, you can refer to your local paediatric service
for assessment and the assessing paediatrician can then refer to
the Bath Chronic Fatigue Service and/or other clinical specialties
if indicated. Children and young people do need a local
paediatrician as further investigations or treatment may be
necessary. Therefore, if you refer directly to the Bath Chronic
Fatigue Service please also refer to your local paediatric
service.