Unpaid carers and personal assistants are to receive supplies of protective kit, Scotland’s Health Secretary has announced.

It follows warnings from care representatives that some people were being left ‘exposed and vulnerable’ during the covid-19 crisis.

The Scottish Personal Assistant Network said earlier this month the experience of carers and more than 2,000 vulnerable Scots who employ their own personal assistants had at times been ‘harrowing and deeply concerning’, as they had been left without access to national stockpiles of PPE and told by some local authorities they would need to source their own.

Today’s announcement should mean that from Monday local hubs will distribute PPE supplies to the whole of the social care sector ‘where normal supply routes have not been successful’ – including to unpaid and family carers and personal assistants.

Emphasising a global scarcity of PPE, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said the Scottish Government has worked with partners to deliver “an improved model” of supply that would ensure all social care providers have access to supplies from national NHS stock.

“This has only been possible because of a shared aim to ensure the right PPE gets to the right people at the right time and to keep everyone safe,” Ms Freeman said.

“In the coming weeks, we will collectively monitor how this model is operating, identifying challenges quickly and taking action as we deal with the evolving nature of the pandemic.”

While working with local government teams, the Scottish Government has said throughout the pandemic it should be ‘business as usual’ for social care providers, including care homes, who are still responsible for sourcing their own PPE stock. Where they have difficulties though, local hubs that are supplied by NHS National Services can provide PPE.

The social care triage helpline set up earlier this month is to revert to being an emergency only service for when local hubs are unable to meet demand.

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