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Letter to the Cabinet Office & DHSC | 28th November 2025 | Long Covid Groups

On 28 November 2025, Bhatt Murphy wrote to the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) regarding:

Covid-19 Public Inquiry – Module 2 Report: Long COVID specific findings and recommendations.


Bhatt Murphy act for the Long Covid Groups, comprising Long Covid Kids, Long Covid Kids Scotland, Long Covid Physio, Long Covid SOS, and Long Covid Support, in the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry.

This letter follows the publication of the Module 2, 2A, 2B, and 2C report on Core decision-making and political governance, released on 20 November 2025.


What We Asked of the Prime Minister


In our letter, we invite the Prime Minister to make a statement in the House of Commons:

  • Acknowledging Long Covid, as should have happened in 2020; and

  • Responding to the Long Covid findings set out most notably in Chapter 8 of the Inquiry’s report.


Government Action & Accountability


We have requested reassurance that the UK Government will seriously consider the Inquiry’s recommendations, specifically those at:


  • Paragraph 8.25 - UK Government should have acknowledged Long Covid and warned the public

    “The UK government should have acknowledged Long Covid and made the risks clear in public health messaging”.


  • Paragraph 8.31 - Failure to recognise Long Covid as significant disease burden

    The Inquiry noted “Professor Whitty acknowledged that the failure to

    recognise that ‘Long Covid would be a significant part of the disease

    burden of COVID-19 early in the pandemic however had practical

    implications” for the management of the pandemic and consideration of

    the effects of COVID-19.” 


We have asked the Government to confirm:

  1. What steps it intends to take in relation to the Inquiry’s findings and narrative recommendations on Long Covid.

  2. How the findings will be integrated into future pandemic planning and exercises.


Request for a Meeting

We have also invited the DHSC and Cabinet Office to meet with us to discuss the evidence and their responses regarding Long Covid.


Next Steps

We have sought an acknowledgment by 19 December 2025.A further update will be provided in due course.





A full copy of the letter to the DHSC can be seen below.


The letter reads:


Dear Sir/Madam

Covid-19 Public Inquiry – Module 2 Report: Long COVID specific findings

and recommendations

We act for the Long Covid Groups (Long Covid Kids, Long Covid Kids

Scotland, Long Covid Physio, Long Covid SOS and Long Covid Support)

in the Covid-19 Public Inquiry. We write further to the publication of the

Module 2, 2A, 2B, 2C report, Core decision-making and political

governance, on 20 November 2025.


The Inquiry made the following findings in relation to Long Covid:

Post viral long term illnesses were known and predictable

The Inquiry found that: “Viral infections can cause long-term illnesses…

the potential for long term illnesses to occur is predictable, the scale and

characteristics…vary from virus to virus…the long-term illnesses arising

from Covid-19 are commonly described as Long Covid…The World

Health Organisation has estimated between 10% and 20% of infected

people will develop Long Covid” 


Foreseeable

The Inquiry notes the expert opinion from Professor Brightling and Dr

Evans that: “It was foreseeable that there was going to be long-term

sequelae from COVID-19 extrapolated from previous coronavirus

pandemics and previous knowledge of post-viral syndromes.”


There was no planning for long term illnesses

“It is well recognised that viral infections can cause longer-term illnesses,

known as long term sequelae.” The Inquiry Report records Professor

Whitty’s evidence that “initial planning for COVID-19 took no account” of

Long Covid.


There was sufficient information by October 2020 that Long Covid

was significant issue

“There was sufficient information available by October 2020 for decision

makers to understand that Long Covid was a significant policy and health

issue to be tackled.”


UK Government was slow to acknowledge the seriousness and

prevalence of Long Covid

The UK Government was slow to “acknowledge the seriousness and

prevalence of the condition and to direct that greater attention could be

paid to how it could be addressed, mitigated and taken into account in

decision making strategy and the imposition of interventions.”


Boris Johnson was rude, dismissive and minimising

“In October 2020 Boris Johnson wrote “BOLLOCKS” on a box note

relating to Long Covid…. “ It notes his evidence that he “was not convinced

that Long Covid truly existed.”


Long Covid was one of the 4 major risks of High Prevalence in

Summer 2021

On 7 July 2021 SAGE advised that modelling scenarios showed high

prevalence of infections and that this “presented four ‘major risks’.” These

were “an increase in hospitalisations and deaths; more Long Covid,

workforce absences (including in the NHS); and the increased risk of new

variants emerging.”


There was no public health campaign on the risks of long-term

illness

“Even when it was clear that there was a risk from Long Covid, there were

no public health campaigns focused on communicating the risks or the

evolving understanding of the syndrome.”


Anyone can develop Long Covid

The Inquiry recorded the expert opinion evidence from Professor

Brightling and Dr Evans that Long Covid poses an indiscriminate risk that

is “anyone can develop Long Covid…”


The public was unable to make fully informed decisions

The Inquiry reported that in the absence of public health information

individuals were “unable to make their own fully informed decisions about

the levels of risk they were prepared to tolerate and the risks posed to

others around them.”


Public health messaging on Long Covid would have had a

considerable positive impact

The Inquiry found “Public messaging about the incidence and existence

of Long Covid would likely have had a considerable positive impact on

those experiencing it and perhaps on those dismissive of symptoms.”


Failure to recognise Long Covid as significant disease burden

The Inquiry noted “Professor Whitty acknowledged that the failure to

recognise that ‘Long Covid would be a significant part of the disease

burden of COVID-19 early in the pandemic however had practical

implications” for the management of the pandemic and consideration of

the effects of COVID-19.” 


UK Government should have acknowledged Long Covid and warned

the public

“The UK government should have acknowledged Long Covid and made

the risks clear in public health messaging”. 

The Inquiry made the following narrative recommendations in relation to

Long Covid. We refer to these as a ‘narrative recommendation’ as they

are proposed changes to improve pandemic response to safeguard the

public but are not included in the main 19 recommendations in volume 2

of the report. These are:

“The potential for long-term sequelae arising from infection and any

developing understanding should be communicated to the public in any

future pandemic”

“In future pandemics, consideration of long-term sequelae must be

built into any strategy and supporting plans.”


Next steps

You will no doubt be aware that approximately 2 million people including

111,000 children in England and Scotland suffer from Long COVID and

381,000 are severely impacted on a daily basis (as at March 2024).


These adults and children with Long COVID were let down by the UK

Government who failed to warn them of the risk of long-term sequelae of

Covid-19 and provide adequate information on Long COVID as it became

available.


ONS, Self-reported coronavirus (Covid-19) infections and associated symptoms, England and

Scotland: November 2023 to March 2024 available at:


Covid-19 continues to be transmitted inevitably causing new cases of

Long COVID. Limited Covid-19 surveillance data is impeding proper

vaccination and health strategies.


There is an urgent need to address the

findings in the Inquiry Report as the numbers of people with Long COVID

continues to rise.


Our clients anticipate that in view of the ongoing public health Long COVID

crisis, findings in the report and the concerns they have about the

disparaging comments about Long COVID sufferers by the former Prime

Minister that the Cabinet Office will wish to take urgent action to address

the Long COVID specific findings.


On 20 November 2025, the Prime Minister laid a written statement before

Parliament noting some of the conclusions of the report and that the

Government will carefully consider all the findings and recommendations

of the report and respond in due course.3 We noted that the Prime Minister

did not acknowledge the pain and suffering caused to millions with Long

COVID.


We invite Prime Minister to make a statement in the House of Commons

acknowledging Long COVID as it should have done in 2020 and

responding to the findings on Long COVID set out most notably in Chapter

8 of the Inquiry’s report.


We also seek reassurance that the UK Government will consider the

recommendations at paragraph 8.25 and 8.31 of the report (set out

above).


Please can you set out by return:

a. b. What steps the Government intends to take in relation to the findings

and narrative recommendations as regards Long COVID;

How those findings and recommendations will be incorporated into the

Government’s pandemic planning and exercises.

Further, our clients invite the DHSC and Cabinet Office to a meeting in

relation to the evidence and responses on Long COVID.


Katie Kavanagh & Nature Magazine, “Covid is beginning to surge Globally. Here’s what we know,”


Statement made by Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, 20 November 2025 Statement UIN


We look forward to hearing from you by 19 December 2025.

Yours faithfully,

Bhatt Murphy



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