Top medic: claims England being favoured for PPE ‘rubbish’

14 Apr 2020

The Scottish Government’s top medic has described claims that private firms were prioritising the NHS in England for delivery of PPE as “rubbish”.

Clinical director Jason Leitch said he’d looked into the allegations on personal protective equipment, which were reported on the front page of an SNP-supporting newspaper this morning, and was satisfied they were wrong.

Instead, he said all of the UK governments were working well together to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking on BBC Good Morning Scotland, he said: “We have looked into it and we think it’s rubbish.

“We are in a four country fight against this virus, and that honestly, people might not believe me, but that four country fight is pretty aligned – the politicians are quite aligned around the science, the scientists are certainly aligned around the science, my clinical colleagues in the other countries along with those of us here, are working together very well.”

Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said:

“I’m glad this lie has been addressed by the most senior clinician around.

“Now everyone in Scotland’s NHS can be rest assured that it is absolutely not the case that the English NHS is somehow being prioritised.

“That will allow us all to focus on what really matters – ensuring this virus is beaten, and that those leading that fight receive the best protection possible”