Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
585. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Health if he will approve long Covid clinics around the country, recognising the ongoing suffering and need for care of a large proportion of Covid sufferers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44171/23]
View answerThe Deputy is advised that the Minister has trebled the allocation of funding dedicated to Long COVID service development from 2.2 million in 2022 to 6.6 million in 2023.
This funding is supporting the implementation of the HSE interim Model of Care for Long COVID, building on existing service provision, in addition to establishing new services across GP, community services and acute hospitals, to ensure a national service is in place for all who need it.
The first priority of the service is to ensure there are Post-Acute and Long COVID clinics operating within each hospital group to provide a national service. At present, there are 6 Long COVID Clinics and 7 post-Acute COVID Clinics operating nationally.
The HSE have advised that the Long COVID clinics currently operational under the model of care include: St Vincent’s University Hospital, and Beaumont Hospital, while the Post-Acute COVID clinics operational under new model of care include: Mater University Hospital and Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown.
In addition, Tallaght University Hospital, St James’s Hospital, Cork University Hospital (CUH), University Hospital Galway, and Limerick University are operating combined Post-Acute and Long COVID clinics and the HSE is working with Letterkenny University Hospital to have a more definitive timeline around their anticipated launch date.
