Round Table Meeting with Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health & Social Care, Humza Yousaf

By Helen Goss

Lead LCK Representative for Scotland

26th November 2021

On Monday 22nd November, Helen Goss, Lead Representative for Scotland and Founder, Sammie McFarland represented LongCovidKids at the Long Covid Round Table meeting with Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf.

LongCovidKids were joined by Long Covid Scotland, Asthma UK, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, The Health & Social Care Alliance Scotland and the Thistle Foundation.

LongCovidKids emphasised that lived experience is essential to understanding the nature of Long Covid, and must be included in policy creation, decision making and the planning and implementation of robust and meaningful support services.

It was a fast paced meeting with little time for deep discussion but both Helen and Sammie were encouraged by the Cabinet Secretary's keen interest in Long Covid in children, agreeing that the narrative of 'COVID19 infection is mild for children' must change. Not all children have mild infection; some children are hospitalised, many children develop Long Covid and tragically, some children do not survive.

There is urgent need for education for healthcare providers so they are able to identify, diagnose, treat and support their paediatric Long Covid patients. Similarly there is an urgent need for education for parents/carers so they are able to identify the symptoms of Long Covid, to know when to seek treatment and support for their child.

On 16th November, LCK Scotland organised a focus group with parents/carers of Long Covid kids in collaboration with NHS Grampian Long Covid Support Team, to assist in the design of their support services for children in Grampian. As lived experience is invaluable for planning services for patients, the Cabinet Secretary agreed to help connect LCK Scotland to other Scottish NHS Trust Long Covid Support Team Leads, and we look forward to working with them.

The next Round Table meeting will be in January 2022. During the next meeting Helen and Sammie would like to concentrate discussion on the prevention of transmission, with specific focus on the current public health measures and mitigations in Scotland's schools.

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LongCovidKids.org is a UK based international charity supporting and advocating for families, children and young people living with Long Covid. Our story started with a short film on the long-lasting symptoms of Covid in children.

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