SCOTLAND paid less for vital PPE during the Covid-19 pandemic than England did, figures have shown.

On average, the Department for Health and Social Care paid approximately 31.6% more for gowns, masks, gloves and other safety kit than the NHS in Scotland did, according to figures analysed by Private Eye.

Auditors in both Scotland and England have published the average spends on medical gear which showed the health authorities were routinely charged more than their Scottish counterparts.

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The magazine reported the following figures as examples of the DHSC’s overspend:

  • IIR face masks; NHS Scotland, 31p, DHSC 40p (29% more)
  • FFPIII face masks; NHS Scotland £2.08, DHSC £2.51 (21% more)
  • Disposable gloves: NHS Scotland 9p, DHSC 12p (33% more)
  • Disposable aprons; NHS Scotland 3p, DHSC 5p (67% more)
  • Non-sterile gowns; NHS Scotland £4.18, DHSC £4.50 (8% more)

Auditors in Scotland covered a longer period than in England.

Audit Scotland looked at PPE spend in Scotland from January 2020 to March 2021, whereas the National Audit Office looked at February 2020 to July 2020.

But because the later part of the period examined in Scotland did not see significantly inflated prices for PPE this does not explain why England’s spend was higher than Scotland.

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The Audit Scotland report suggested one way NHS procurement departments in Scotland spent less was by “keeping the volume of orders lower when prices were at their peak”.

Auditors also noted that, at the beginning of 2020, none of Scotland’s PPE was manufactured in Scotland but by April 2021, 88% (excluding gloves) was.

It comes after it was revealed the UK Government had written off nearly £9 billion spent on PPE due to fraud, with around £2.6bn spent on unusable kit.