When the draft Scottish Budget for 2025/26 was delivered by Shona Robison MSP, Scotland’s Finance Secretary to Holyrood on 4th December 2024 it contained a commitment for an ‘additional £4.5 million to deliver new specialist support across the country for Long Covid, ME, Chronic Fatigue, and other similar conditions.’ By May 2025, MSP Jackie Bailey asked for an update and was informed that work was ongoing and then two leading COVID charities resigned from the Long Covid Strategic Network over inaction to allocate the promised funding.
The Scottish Government has (25th September 2025) announced how it intends utilising the funding with an online statement headed ‘Funding long COVID services’.
New year-on-year investment in specialist services will help address long-term effects caused by COVID-19 and other similar health conditions.
The Scottish Government is allocating £4.5 million to health boards this year and in future years on a recurring basis, to recruit skilled staff and develop sustainable services. Patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and similar conditions will also be eligible for referral.
Services could include managing fatigue or breathlessness, physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
It is of concern that the announcement failed to mention a commitment to ensure NICE compliant ME/CFS options given the dire lack of knowledge and services currently available – as evidenced by the Scottish Government’s own report. When Ben Macpherson MSP tabled a question to enquire how the funding proposal of £4.5m, covering a number of areas, would impact ME/CFS – especially in implementation of the ME/CFS NICE guideline – now Scotland’s “the default clinical guidance on ME/CFS“ – there was no mention other than “It is expected that NHS boards will develop support based on their understanding of local population need and synergies with existing local service provision.”
This certainly seems to be the case as the announcement quoted the Director of Allied Health Professions at NHS Lothian saying that
In Lothian, we are taking a holistic approach to supporting people with long-term health conditions such as ME, CFS and Long Covid. Our clinical teams work collaboratively across a range of services, including medical, psychology, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy, to provide care and support people to better manage their condition and improve their quality of life
