WESTMINSTER officials have roundly rejected claims that companies have been told to only provide protective equipment to NHS trusts in England, and not Scotland.
The claims were made yesterday by Donald Macaskill, head of Scottish Care, the main umbrella body for care homes and home care providers in Scotland.
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Jason Leitch, the Scottish Government's National Clinical Director said this morning the claims were "rubbish" and added they had been looked into.
Now the Prime Minister's official spokesman has also dismissed the claims.
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When asked if the reports were accurate he said it was "a flat no".
He added: "Our PPE strategy is UK wide, making sure that first line workers in England, Scotland, Wales, have all they need to stay protected while taking care of patients. Through this four-nation approach, we're working closely with the devolved administrations to coordinate the distribution of PPE evenly across the UK.
READ MORE: Westminster officials reject claims PPE being withheld from Scotland
"We have not instructed any companies to prioritise PPE for one nation over the other. That is a flat 'no'. "
Speaking on the radio this morning, Mr Leitch said: “We have looked into it and we think it’s rubbish.
“There’s another element of this though, that the English route for PPE is one of three routes that Scotland has access to PPE from.
“So we are in a four-country fight against this virus. Honestly, people might not believe me, but that four-countries fight is pretty aligned."
Nicola Sturgeon said at her daily press briefing today that it was "not an exaggeration to say that we are extremely concerned about these reports" but added: "I should stress we are not aware so far this is an issue affecting supplies to our national stockpile in Scotland."
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