Introduction

This guidance1 supports primary care and community health services to meet the immediate and longer-term care needs of patients discharged following an acute episode of COVID-19, by describing the typical expected health care needs of these patients, post-discharge. More than 95,000 COVID-19-positive patients have been looked after in hospitals across England, and most have been able to recover and leave hospital.
However, it is clear that for many of those who have survived, the virus and the treatment required to combat it will have a lasting impact on their health.
As we move past the first peak of this virus, and as set out in the letter of 29 April 2020 on the second phase of NHS response to COVID-19 from Simon Stevens and Amanda Pritchard, we are going to see increased demand for aftercare and support in community health services, primary care, and mental health. In addition to this, a new online, on-demand COVID-19 rehab service called ‘Your COVID Recovery’ is being rolled out, which will provide rehabilitation services for those who have survived COVID-19 but still require support.
Community health services – working together with other providers of physical and mental health care – will need to support the increase in patients who have recovered from COVID-19 and who, having been discharged from hospital, need ongoing health support that rehabilitates them both physically and mentally. Meeting these challenges will be a joint endeavour, working seamlessly together including through, for example, multidisciplinary teams and/or virtual ward arrangements.
It is important to note that the impact of COVID-19 on patients is a rapidly-evolving picture and comprehensive data is not yet available on all aspects. Following publication of this guidance, local areas should continue to consider further information published to support management of issues raised in this document.

Work is underway to understand the relationship between health inequalities and COVID-19, which must be taken into account in considering the care and support for patients.
Patients with pre-existing health conditions may require immediate or longer-term changes to the management of those conditions as a result of their COVID-19 episode; however, that is not the focus of this guidance.
The guidance is focused on the clinical interventions that the NHS will lead on. However holistic care is impossible without the partnership with adult social care professionals and social care providers and we will be working with the Department for Health and Social Care to support them in their roles.