SCOTTISH Labour branded the SNP government’s £10 million long Covid fund “too little, too late” today after it was revealed that no health boards had received any handouts so far — bar one.

Ministers in Holyrood are under pressure after research revealed that, 18 months after the start of the pandemic, significant limits remain on dedicated funding to help treat long Covid. 

Information obtained by freedom of information legislation revealed that NHS Shetland was the only of Scotland’s 14 regional health boards to have received any dedicated funding — just £6,720 — to help treat the condition.

Campaigners have been calling for support for specialist long Covid treatment since the debilitating condition emerged at the start of the pandemic. 

But health services are still waiting to learn what their share of the recently announced £10m budget will be. 

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie called the ongoing lack of financial support a scandal. 

The party’s health and Covid recovery spokeswoman said: “That not a single health board has been supported to set up a dedicated clinic or given adequate guidance on clinical pathways is depressing and that only Shetland has received any additional funding to deal with long Covid is a scandal.

“For the hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland suffering from long Covid, this paltry new funding from the government is just too little, too late.”

A Scottish government spokesman denied the claims, outlining multimillion-pound funding to support and research the long-term effects of Covid-19.

He said: “This claim is wrong. Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has announced a new £10m Long Covid Support Fund for health boards which can be tailored to local needs and is designed to maximise and improve the co-ordination of a broad range of existing services across the health and social care system.”