“Fewer than half of U.K. Long COVID clinics will stay open this year, according to research from the charity Long COVID Support.“
Hannah Buttle, The Sick Times
Summary
- Mass closure of Long COVID clinics: Fewer than half of the U.K.'s Long COVID clinics will remain open in 2025, amid funding cuts and a shift in responsibility to regional care boards, many of which are not maintaining services.
- Limited care and unmet needs: Many patients report inadequate or ineffective treatment from Long COVID clinics, with some clinics offering only therapies like CBT; others are being closed due to falling referrals, which experts argue don't reflect the actual need.
- Healthcare and benefits under threat: As Long COVID services are cut, the U.K. government is also planning significant reductions in disability benefits, leaving many people without adequate medical support or financial assistance.
On the 15th July, 2025, The Sick Times published a new article on their website, “Left without care: Many Long COVID clinics are closing down in the U.K.”, which included information from an interview with Dr Charles Shepherd, MEA Hon. Medical Adviser.
Article Extracts
When Long COVID clinics are closed, GPs may have to refer patients to clinics for ME, also called chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), of which there are only about 60 in the country.
Estimates suggest that about half of those with Long COVID meet the diagnostic criteria for ME, so the care at these clinics is unlikely to be appropriate for everyone with Long COVID, said Dr. Charles Shepherd, a trustee of the ME Association.
Long COVID includes a “spectrum,” he said. Some people can be helped by an ME clinic, but others have health issues like lung damage, heart damage, and loss of taste and smell, which ME clinics likely won’t be able to address.
Even for people who do have both Long COVID and ME, these specialist clinics may not meet their needs. Only 28% of healthcare authorities in England have implemented national guidelines on ME, according to research from the charity Action for ME.
“Some ME services can’t even provide a diagnosis of the condition they’re dealing with because they haven’t got a physician,” said Shepherd. “They’re not able to prescribe drugs for pain or sleep.”
MEA Comment:
As noted in this article, a significant number of NHS Long Covid clinics are closing as a result of lack of funding and in some cases the clinics are now discussing a transfer of patients to ME/CFS referral services – where they exist.
This may be helpful for people with Long Covid who also have ME/CFS symptoms and the MEA is involved in discussions with service providers and health service commissioners on this point.
However, this type of transfer is not going to be helpful for people with Long Covid whose primary problem relates to heart, lung or other symptoms that are caused by organ damage from the initial Covid infection.
Dr Charles Shepherd,
Trustee and Hon. Medical Adviser to the ME Association,
Member of the 2018-2021 NICE guideline on ME/CFS committee,
Member of the 2002 Chief Medical Officer's Working Group on ME/CFS
