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Health and Sport Committee 07 May 2020

07 May 2020 · S5 · Health and Sport Committee

Item of business

Covid-19 Scrutiny

Freeman, Jeane SNP Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley Watch on SPTV

Thank you, convener, and good morning, colleagues. I am grateful for the invitation to attend the committee to speak about such an important issue. The safety of our essential front-line workforce is an absolute priority for all of us. We are continuously looking to improve supply and distribution of the protective equipment that is so vital in the fight against the Covid-19 virus. Since March, we have delivered more than 160 million items of PPE: 117 million items to the acute sector, 35.1 million to social care and 8.1 million to community care. Our job is to ensure that everyone who needs PPE gets the right PPE, at the right time and in the right circumstances. What constitutes the right PPE is, of course, defined by clinical guidance that is relevant to the scenario in which an individual works. Protecting the people who work in hospitals and care homes and as unpaid carers, along with those who work in other sectors that we support, is a priority. However, it is important to recognise that, at the outset, our normal way of operation in the health service in Scotland was to supply PPE to the health service, with other employers being responsible for their own workforce. That has now changed, as supply chains in social care and to local authorities have in some respects failed, and we have stepped in to ensure that supplies are nonetheless maintained, for the staff, the patients and the residents involved. There have undoubtedly been challenges, not least during a global pandemic in a globally competitive market. Demand for PPE has been high, and the volume of supply can be unpredictable when compared with the volume that was ordered. In responding to a constantly changing environment, we are looking at the immediate imperatives of ensuring the safety of our workforce, responding to demand as it changes and, at the same time, planning for future requirements as the demand and—in particular—the supply chains change. We have had to change and reshape our work to co-ordinate the response across the range of sectors that I mentioned. We have established improved essential co-ordination for our PPE response, as we improve our understanding of the demand for PPE outwith health boards, in community settings. As I have said, we have to step in to make up for the failure of private and local authority supply chains, when those occur. I place on record my thanks to my senior officials, to NHS National Services Scotland and to health boards for their close work together to manage the supply of PPE to front-line workers. Expanding the work of NSS to support the provision of PPE in social care settings has included supplying personal protective equipment to personal assistants and unpaid carers. I am pleased to tell the committee that, since the weekend, more than 66,000 items of PPE have been distributed across Scotland to unpaid carers and personal assistants, and we expect that distribution to continue. As you will know, the Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation, Ivan McKee, has taken forward a range of initiatives to secure increasingly reliable PPE supply chains from overseas. He is also accelerating work on strengthening our options for PPE supply from within Scotland. I receive daily updates from NSS on current stock levels of PPE supplies and the plans to replenish those supplies; on the orders that we have in train and our estimates of the reliability of those orders; and on any mitigating steps that are being taken if there are queries about whether an order will arrive when it is due or whether it will be of the volume that was originally ordered. That contingency planning also counteracts the risk of breaks in supply chains or of delays that are outwith our control. I also want to mention the offers of PPE that we receive from businesses. Those offers are immensely welcome, and they can complement our existing supplier network and our supply chain—we have examples of where that has been the case. Such offers, which often come through less conventional channels, are treated seriously, but they need to be addressed and assessed carefully. We must be satisfied about the quality of the product that is being offered and think about how we can focus on areas of greatest need. As some offers are not legitimate, they must first be checked to ensure that there is no risk of fraud and that they represent value for money. I know that some committee members have raised concerns about the speed and efficiency of the PPE correspondence mailbox that we established at the start of last month. I have made it clear that any workers in the health care sector who have concerns about PPE should approach the Scottish Government, and many workers have taken up that offer, as have members of the Scottish Parliament. There was a backlog of requests, many of which did not relate to health, social care or PPE. My officials have been working hard to address that backlog, and I am happy to report that it has been cleared. We are now able to work within the seven-day turnaround period for responding to emails; seven days is the maximum time for a response. Requests are triaged and more urgent ones—for example, from somebody who is on the front line and who does not believe that they have the PPE that they need—are acted on much more quickly. Another new feature of our PPE work is that we now have a single point of contact in each health board. I hope that that is sufficient to get the discussion going. I know that members will have many questions, and I look forward to answering them.

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Health and Sport Committee 07 May 2020

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