England didn’t hijack supplies of protective kit

THE Chancellor has rejected claims firms were told to limit the sale of protective equipment to Scotland and favour English care homes.

Rishi Sunak said there was ‘no truth’ in allegations over the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE).

His intervention came just hours after Nicola Sturgeon pledged to investigate claims that companies had been asked to prioritise care homes in England over Scotland.

She said any such move would be ‘unconscionable’. Concerns about PPE were raised by CEO of Scottish Care, Donald Macaskill, who claimed UK companies were failing to send the kit north of the Border.

The Times said the website of supplier Gompels said some PPE products had ‘restrictions’ on who could purchase them. The website apologised to Scottish and Welsh customers, claiming restrictions were ‘criteria given to us by Public Health England’.

However, it is understood the website restrictions are in relation to individual contracts companies have with health boards and governments for flu season – and this does not relate to Covid-19.

Mr Sunak quoted Scotland’s national clinical director Jason Leitch, who said the PPE claims were ‘rubbish’.

Mr Sunak said: ‘There’s no truth in those stories, that those companies had been told to prioritise PPE equipment. There has been incredibly close collaboration between our four nations.’

Public Health England’s Yvonne Doyle said: ‘Public Health England (PHE) has not directed any of the devolved administrations to be at any disadvantage.’ However, Miss Sturgeon said the Scottish Government would investigate reports ‘supplies of PPE to care homes in Scotland are being diverted to England’.

She said if care homes supplies are affected it would be ‘unacceptable’ and increase pressure on the national stockpile. Miss Sturgeon said: ‘It is a point about fairness and co-operation as all of us deal with the challenge of this virus. All parts of the UK right now are facing supply challenges on PPE.

‘Any situation where supplies were being diverted from one part of the UK to another without consultation would clearly be unconscionable.’

A meeting between Health Secretary Matt Hancock and health ministers of the devolved governments took place, with Jeane Freeman saying in a tweet she was grateful for the ‘assurance that neither NHS England nor PHE asked suppliers to divert PPE orders from Scotland’.

‘No truth in these stories’