The Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry
The Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry was established to examine the decisions made during the pandemic, their impacts, and the lessons that must be learned for the future. You can read more about the Inquiry on its official website: Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry.
As patient experts in paediatric Long Covid, we believe that children’s voices and experiences must not be overlooked. For too long, children and families have been underrepresented in pandemic decision-making, despite carrying heavy and lasting consequences.
Our Involvement
Long Covid Kids Scotland, led by Helen Goss, has been fully engaged with the Inquiry process from the beginning. We are Core Participants, ensuring that children and families affected by Long Covid in Scotland are represented at the highest level.
Our work includes:
Setting out the key issues for children, young people, and families living with Long Covid in Scotland.
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Opening Statement on behalf of Long Covid Kids in Scotland - Health and social care impact hearings - 16/10/2023 https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/sites/default/files/ev-documents/sci-opnstn-000009.pdf
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Closing statement on behalf of Long Covid Kids Scotland - Health and social care impact hearings - 28.06.24 https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/sites/default/files/ev-documents/sci-clsstn-000013.pdf
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Personal testimony from families, highlighting the reality of paediatric Long Covid and the systemic failures that have compounded harm.
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Witness Statement provided by Helen Goss on behalf of Long Covid Kids Scotland, dated 17/05/2024 https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/sites/default/files/ev-documents/sci-wt0112-000001.pdf
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Witness Statement provided by Amanda Jelley on behalf of Long Covid Kids Scotland, dated 19/01/2024 https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/sites/default/files/ev-documents/sci-wt0644-000001.pdf
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Witness Statement provided by Helen Goss on behalf of Long Covid Kids Scotland (LCKS), dated 19/10/2023 https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/sites/default/files/ev-documents/sci-wt0568-000001.pdf
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(https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/lets-be-heard) – contributions from children and young people living with Long Covid, ensuring their perspectives and experiences are directly captured in the Inquiry’s record.
Children and young people living with Long Covid shared their stories, drawings, and reflections through the Inquiry’s Let’s Be Heard project. Many of these children are too unwell to take part in formal hearings, yet their voices are central to understanding the true impact of the pandemic.
Their contributions highlight the loss of health, education, and childhood caused by repeated infections and lack of protection, and they serve as a permanent record of how the youngest in society were affected.https://www.covid19inquiry.scot/report/voices-of-children-young-people-case-study
Consistent communication with Scottish Ministers, Parliamentarians, NHS leaders, and other institutions to push for recognition, accountability, and meaningful change.
Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry's Health and Social Care Impact Hearings
Helen Goss
Impact hearing - Health and social care
23 May 2024
Our Involvement
Amanda Jelley
Impact hearing - Health and social care
22 May 2024
Our Involvement
Helen Goss
Impact hearing - Health and social care
2 November 2023
Our Goals
We want the Inquiry to:
Recognise
that Long Covid in children is real, serious, and ongoing.
Aknowledge Harm
including the impact of repeated infection, lack of protection, and inadequate healthcare and education support.
Ensure Representation
that the most severly affected children, often too unwell to give evidence themselves, are not forgotten
Drive Change
so that lessons are learned and acted upon, ensuring better protection for children now, and in any future public health crisis.
Our Hopes
We hope the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry will bring truth, accountability, and change.
Most of all, we hope it will shine a light on the reality of paediatric Long Covid, so that no child is left invisible, unsupported, or dismissed again.
This work is for the children who have lost years of health, education, and childhood, and for those who may come after them.