The Scottish Government is being urged to use the armed forces to make sure promised PPE supplies make their way to social care staff.

Dr Donald Macaskill, CEO of representative body Scottish Care, says the existing network is already struggling because of a lack of experience in the scale of logistics required by the current pandemic.

He is calling for the army to support NHS National Services Scotland (NSS), the organisation in charge of a distribution system designed to make sure care workers are protected against covid-19.

The Scottish Government has faced criticism that PPE supplies are not getting through to frontline care staff as promised.

It set up a network of hubs that would distribute stocks to social care providers but Dr Macaskill says there is a “disparity” between what ministers are saying and what is actually happening.

“Of these 70 hubs which have been created, we are hearing many of them have not been formally established, that providers are expected to go considerable distances to get their basic packages…”

“On Friday…we had four areas of Scotland where our members went to try to get PPE which was urgently needed and the hubs were shut.

“I then wrote to Scottish Government and I have reiterated publicly that I think we need to take the pressure off our health and social care partnerships who clearly have no experience in this area and utilise those who do in terms of logistical experience, and that is our armed forces.

“I am calling for the army to be seriously considered as is happening in parts of England to give strategic support to our colleagues in NSS because the health and social care partnerships in many parts of the country are stretched and don’t have the skill or capacity to do this.”

The Scottish Government says it has put in place two additional routes for social care providers to get PPE and it is ramping up distribution networks.

A spokesperson said: “We have brought in 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. We are proactively delivering PPE to local cluster points for onward distribution or collection by registered social care providers, so that they have supplies available as a contingency measure.

“Where we are alerted to any particular difficulties in health and social care, we respond directly and as quickly as we can to resolve these."

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