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Scotland: Central stockpile of PPE ran ‘very low’ in pandemic early stages

SCOTTISH Labour has lambasted the government’s “catastrophic” failure after a new report found Scotland’s central stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) ran “very low” in the early stages of the pandemic. 

Party leader Anas Sarwar has raised widespread concerns which have arisen following the publication of an Audit Scotland report which shows the NHS was just “hours away from disaster.”

The report, released today, reiterated its earlier finding that the Scottish government did not fully implement recommendations from pandemic preparedness exercises.

It also said the government could have done more to ensure access to PPE and training in its use.

A similar study carried out at a UK level by the National Audit Office found the UK spent £10 billion extra in inflated prices for PPE due to an “inadequate” stockpile and the surge in global demand early in the pandemic.

Centrally held stocks of certain key items were “very low” in April 2020, with just 0.3 days’ worth of long-sleeved gowns stored by NHS National Services Scotland (NSS). 

The report noted individual health boards may have had additional supplies of PPE items.

Mr Sarwar said that warnings from those on the front line made it clear that might have been true “on the First Minister’s spreadsheet, but wasn’t the reality”, claiming ministers failed to heed the warnings of previous pandemic preparedness reports.

He said: “The Scottish government was not prepared, despite three planning exercises making recommendations about the PPE.

“When Covid struck, that meant we did not have adequate supplies and struggled to cope.

“The Scottish government claim they did not run out of PPE – that might have been the case on the First Minister’s spreadsheet, but it wasn’t the reality in our hospitals and care homes. 

“Some of our heroes have tragically died. Their families deserve answers. The lessons of this tragedy must be learnt.”

A Scottish government spokesman said that Covid-19 brought an unprecedented global demand for PPE, but reiterated that Scotland never ran out of PPE after work by the government, which he said created hundreds of jobs. 

Speaking in Holyrood today, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon admitted her government did not get everything right, claiming Scotland was too heavily reliant on flu pandemic planning.

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