Protection for health and social care staff

From Monday 30 March the improvements will both provide regular supplies and improve the distribution of masks, aprons, gloves and other crucial items of PPE direct to those on the frontline who need it.

New measures include:

• delivery of eight weeks’ worth of PPE to all GP surgeries. This will begin on Monday and is expected to be completed by the end of the week
• delivery of PPE to local cluster points for onward distribution or collection by social care providers
• extra staff to prepare PPE orders for social care, plus additional delivery drivers, longer delivery hours and use of more external delivery companies to increase capacity
• adding to well-established arrangements in hospitals, all health boards now have a single point of contact to manage local PPE supply and distribution

Over last four to six weeks, around 34 million items PPE items have been delivered to hospitals in Scotland providing care for coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and other conditions.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said, “The safety of our health and social care workforce is an absolute priority, and we are continuously looking to improve the distribution of the protective equipment that is so vital in the fight against COVID-19.

“These improvements will help to make sure we continue to deliver supplies needed - even in the face of unprecedented demand across the health and social care system.

 “We currently have adequate stocks of PPE – equating to six weeks’ worth of hospital stock for the most critical items.

“We will be issuing almost eight million items of PPE stock in the coming week to support Primary Care and Social Care. Work continues as an absolute priority to source further PPE to ensure there continues to be an appropriate supply for all our health and social care workforce.”