PHYSIOTHERAPY: Sturgeon must set out winter plans for Covid and long Covid cases 

By Lucy Ashton

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today called on Scottish Government ministers to set out what planning it has in place as the winter months begin and the chances of a fresh Covid-19 wave begin to increase.

His calls comes as new figures published by Public Health Scotland today show that in the week ending 24 September 2022, 1 in 45 people are testing positive for Covid-19. This comes alongside a new study from the University of Glasgow that 1 in 20 suffer long term affects after Covid and recent Office for National Statistics figures that estimate 204,000 people in Scotland have self-reported long Covid.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, right,  said:  “As we begin to enter the winter months, it is clear that the Scottish Government needs to let the public know what plans it has to prevent a future wave of Covid cases from disrupting NHS services. 

“In the Health Secretary’s NHS winter planning statement, he made absolutely no mention of how he intends to support long Covid sufferers.

“The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is devoting twice as much money to her efforts to break up the UK as she is to helping those people suffering long Covid. We need to see dedicated clinics across Scotland and a commitment to country-wide access to long Covid physiotherapy and multi-disciplinary rehab.”