Around ten million face masks as well as infusion pumps for intensive care units and virus collecting kits landed at Glasgow’s Prestwick Airport yesterday morning.

It comes as around half of nurses responding to a survey report feeling pressured to work in high risk covid-19 wards without sufficient personal protective equipment.

Social care providers have also raised concerns over a lack of PPE. The head of representative body Scottish Care, Dr Donald Macaskill, called for the army to brought in to expediate the delivery of protective kits to the frontline workers in Scotland’s care homes and home care services.

The Scottish Government’s Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation Ivan McKee said that protecting staff working on the frontline is an “absolute priority” as health and social care systems face “unprecedented demand”:

“We have been working at pace with the NHS and manufacturers both in Scotland and internationally to improve and increase the supply of PPE.

“This charter flight, carrying additional equipment ordered by the Scottish Government, is significant and we will be focusing the distribution of these supplies to health and social care settings over the coming days.

“In these incredibly challenging times the Scottish Government will continue to do all it can to make health and social care staff feel as safe as possible in their workplace.”

Jim Miller, Director of Procurement, Commissioning and Facilities at NHS National Services Scotland (NSS), said:

“This delivery is the result of a painstaking collective effort involving multiple partners working together to provide our NHS and social care colleagues with the PPE they need to keep them safe.”

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