THE first Ross McLelland knew of the problem was March 23. It was hours before Boris Johnson’s lockdown announcement, which would see UK dental practices close, and he was trying to buy masks for his Aberdeen dental practice, Waverley Dental, from the UK arm of one of the world’s biggest suppliers.

When he found what he needed, it was labelled “England only”, with a message reading: “These masks have been purchased via Public Health England and per instruction should only be sold to NHS practices in England – no exceptions. Any orders placed by dental practices outside England including Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland will be cancelled.”

The items he’d been looking for weren’t specific to dentistry – they could have been used in care settings from residential homes to clinics.

So when reports surfaced of other personal protective equipment (PPE) suppliers like Gompels HealthCare refusing to fulfil Scots orders and citing guidance from English authorities, he wasn’t surprised.

But when these were dismissed by government figures on both sides of the Border, he was “really angry”.

“I had personal experience of this happening as far back as March 23,” he said. “Some of the largest UK dental supply companies based in England openly stated to us certain PPE was reserved for England only.

“I’ll bet serious concerns were being raised by clinicians about lack of PPE and supply chain as far back as January or beyond.”

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The cross-border supply row became headline news on Monday when Donald Macaskill, head of care sector body Scottish Care, told BBC Radio Scotland that the four largest suppliers in the UK had said they were selling to “England, the English NHS and then English social care providers”.

The news provoked outcry, with members of the public in devolved nations questioning why – if we’re all part of a four-nations strategy to beat this devastating virus – their populations were being put at a disadvantage.

Claim, counter-claim and confusion has followed and, despite assurances from authorities on both sides of the Border, some medical sources are privately questioning whether the controversy has damaged public confidence in our Covid-19 offensive.

Speaking off the record, one told the Sunday National there had been “tension” between some Scottish doctors and colleagues in England over PPE, but that there was a reluctance to speak out about this due to the need for UK agencies to work together during this unprecedented crisis.

Wiltshire-based Gompels Healthcare said the “restrictions” on some of its stock limiting sales to customers registered and operating within England were due to “criteria given to us by Public Health England”.

Managing director Sam Gompels explained that the items involved had come from a stockpile held by that agency, much of which was past its sell-by date but had been retested and verified safe to use during the pandemic.

The businessman said that because the PPE had been supplied by a body which serves England only, it would not be right to allow the materials to leave that country. “We ran out of stocks a month ago,” he told reporters. “Public Health England [PHE] were kind enough to supply some to help care homes. But the emphasis was on English care homes. I somehow can’t imagine Scottish health authorities supplying English care homes, to be perfectly blunt.

“The fact is Public Health England got their finger out and organised these distribution channels and are getting pilloried for it because Public Health Scotland [PHS], or whatever the equivalent is, have not necessarily organised the same and that’s probably the nub of it.”

That body launched on April 1, when the crisis had already taken hold. Now Scotland’s lead agency for “protecting and improving health and wellbeing”, it brings together Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and the Information Services Division with NHS Scotland.

ANNOUNCING the launch, the Scottish Government said there would be “no break in service as a result of the move”, with Covid-19 being the new agency’s “immediate priority”.

While Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick sits on the PHS board, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have been the public faces of the pandemic response, along with National Clinical Director Jason Leitch.

He initially dismissed claims of a bar on cross-border sales as “rubbish”, stating: “The companies and our colleagues at NHS England yesterday, when we spoke to them, said it wasn’t true.”

But hours later, Sturgeon said she was “extremely concerned” and investigating the matter – which led to denials from Westminster. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said there was “no truth” in the story, while Public Health England’s Yvonne Doyle said: “Public Health England has not, in any sense, directed any of the devolved administrations to be at any disadvantage. We work really closely together.”

Since then, Freeman has stated that Matt Hancock, her UK counterpart, has given unequivocal reassurance on the matter, insisting that “neither NHS England nor PHE asked suppliers to divert PPE orders from Scotland”.

“We go forward constructively as before and continue to check on these supplies,” she continued.

Trying to clear up the matter with public concern still riding high, Leitch apologised for his part in “confusion” over PPE supplies. “I overspoke a little and should have been more circumspect in my response,” he said, emphasising that no England-only order had been given by PHE or the Department of Health. Leitch said the Gompels issue – the reselling of stocks that had been procured from PHE – “appears to be where the confusion arose”.

A number of assurances have been given from the Scottish Government about PPE supplies and the national stockpile, which – according to the UK Department of Health – took a share of 20 million items released for devolved nations in the days leading up to April 10. Guidance published on that date also states how it has arranged for seven wholesalers to “provide supplies to care providers registered with the Care Quality Commission”, an England-only body.

However, efforts continue across the country to collect donations of gloves, goggles, masks and aprons for frontline medical staff. MedSupplyDriveUK – Scotland, which is led by a junior doctor, says it secured almost 9000 items for healthcare teams across the country in its first few days of operation. And, in a message on Thursday seen by the Sunday National, Lee Savarrio, chief of dentistry at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the country’s biggest health board, tells practices his team is still looking for “any supplies/PPE you have offered ... including surgical gowns”.

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