Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton Constituency, has today raised the newly published Long Covid action plan by Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland, with the First Minister.

This comes as a reported 74,000 people in Scotland are now suffering from Long Covid. Jackie Baillie has just started the cross party group on Long Covid within the Scottish Parliament which seeks to listen to the lived experience of sufferers and the expert views of health professionals to campaign for greater support and services for people with Long Covid.

Nicola Sturgeon said that she broadly agreed with the recommendations within the report and the calls for additional funding will be considered within the context of the Scottish budget.

Jackie Baillie MSP said:

“Long Covid is fast becoming a crisis for our health service and society. The hugely debilitating condition is impacting on the lives of over 70,000 people and the numbers continue to rise.

“Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland’s action plan addresses the issues of Long Covid and the Scottish Government should listen to and implement the recommendations.

“The Scottish Government has done far too little thus far to properly support Long Covid sufferers or to provide proper funding for tailored services. Waiting for the budget simply delays much needed action for another 6 months. Urgent action must be taken now before the situation spirals any further.”