A Scotswoman suffering from long Covid has labelled current policy for treating the condition "inhumane" amid calls for dedicated long Covid clinics. 

Kate Stott, 35, is set to travel to Germany this summer in an effort to treat her long Covid symptoms after she caught the virus in March 2020. 

Clinicians in Germany are testing people with the condition for micro-clots, which they believe play a role in long Covid. 

When asked about whether Scotland needed to introduce long Covid clinics, Ms Stott told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "The way that we are tackling Covid as a government strategy just now is inhumane.

"Without a doubt there needs to be long Covid clinics but there needs to be biomechanism research, there needs to be clinical trials.

"We don't want to just be offered dieticians and physiotherapy, we can't exercise our way out of this. People need treatments."

Speaking on the same programme, the health spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives has again urged for dedicated clinics to be set up for long Covid patients in Scotland.

Dr Sandesh Gulhane, who had originally called for long Covid specialist clinics in his maiden speech to the Scottish Parliament in 2021, said it is important people suffering with the illness can be seen by someone with expertise on the matter.

“People with long Covid don’t want to come into hospital. They haven’t got the energy to do that,” Dr Gulhane said.

“The problem I have right now as a GP, I don’t have anywhere to send my long Covid patients to.”

Ms Stott explained that she was motivated to travel to Germany for treatment after getting a lack of answers in the UK.  

She said: "I am not willing to accept that this is my life.

"I have to at least try and I can't wait for answers from the UK Government anymore, from the health systems, I have to try and find out these answers for myself."

READ MORE: Long Covid Scotland: 'Some days I can't even lift a cup to my mouth because I'm so tired'

Speaking about her symptoms, the 35-year-old added: "I find it really, really hard to convey how debilitating this disease is. I can only say from my own experience with Crohn's disease, I would take Crohn's any day over long Covid.

"And as much as Crohn's disease is devastating and it has a huge impact on life, long Covid has left me unable to walk any distance, unable to drive, unable to see at points, my vision becomes really blurry."

She added: "It's just constant and it's just had an absolutely devastating impact."

When asked if he can offer any treatment to patients who come to him for help, the Tory MSP said: “Unfortunately, the best I can offer is empathy.

“I can explain to them [about] long Covid, but there isn’t a huge amount that we can do right now.

“We need a dedicated space for our patients to go to.”

He added: “We need patients to be able to go to a specialist, to be able to go somewhere where they’re able to get that help, to get the expertise.”

Dr Gulhane suggested that in doing so, patterns in successful treatment could be recognised, rather than having individual patients being sent to various places to seek answers to their illness.

Last month, the Scottish Government announced a support fund of £3 million would go towards projects driving improvements in care and support for people with long Covid.

The funding will be allocated to the country’s health boards to be spent on bolstering support but, at the time, Dr Gulhane criticised the fact the Government was not committing to creating a network of clinics as a solution.

He told BBC Scotland on Saturday: “The Scottish Government have chosen to spend double the amount on independence planning than they are on long Covid.

“We’re in a situation where it’s £3 million a year being given to long Covid, for £10 million in total, and that’s not going to be anywhere near enough what we need.

“But worse than that, we have nothing.

“We have absolutely nothing across the health boards in Scotland.”