Military personnel have criticized the NHS for its ‘appalling’ handling of distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) amid continued complaints of shortages.
The army, which has been helping the health service deploy the life-saving gear, is understood to be pushing for more control of the allocation to ensure kit is ending up where it needs to be.
A senior source alleged that masks, aprons, gloves and other items were being assigned to hospitals without regard to relative need, leading to oversupply in some areas and shortages in others. They claimed NHS logistics were ‘knackered’ and questioned why certain key items were not being rationed.
‘We know how knackered their [NHS logistics] systems are, but we’ve been surprised we’ve not been called in to help more, and we’ve been surprised by their failure to ration [kit] ‘the insider told The Times.
Commanders are believed to be frustrated that the Covid Support Force has not been called in to lead on the allocation, given that planning and logistics are military specialisms.
Chairman of the Commons Defense Select Committee, Tobias Ellwood, has called on the government to appoint a military specialist as logistics boss to alleviate the PPE crisis, saying the army is ‘extremely enthusiastic’ to assist.
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He stressed the ‘tremendous sacrifice and efforts of the NHS’ but said it was not used to working so holistically together on this scale and for this duration.
Gvt should consider appointing a military specialist as logistics tsar, says @ Tobias_Ellwood , chairman of Commons defense cmtte.
He stressed “tremendous sacrifice and efforts” of NHS, but said its logistics could be enhanced by military who are “extremely enthusiastic to assist” pic.twitter .com / PxeWGntfiv
arrived back in the UK in the early hours of this morning.
The consignment, which is said to include , surgical gowns, was due to arrive on Sunday. The official amount of PPE in the package has not yet been confirmed and the government is facing mounting criticism for announcing the inclusion of the gowns before it was checked with suppliers.
The supply of PPE, in particular gowns, has been a key issue of the coronavirus crisis. Ministers have repeatedly insisted they are pursuing ‘every possible option’ to secure additional kit but said that, with unprecedented worldwide demand, the situation is ‘very challenging’.
But in new developments today, the government was accused of losing a month in the fight against Covid – After failing to respond to manufacturers’ offers to make medical gowns in Britain.
Head of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, Adam Mansell, said that conversations between government officials and large manufacturers about making medical gowns had only taken place in the past fortnight.
‘We have started probably four weeks later than we should have’ he said.
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