Scotland avoided PPE ‘VIP lane’ due to devolution, UK Covid-19 Inquiry told

Former Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman has told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry she believed Scotland avoided a “VIP lane” for procuring personal protective equipment (PPE) due to devolution.

Ms Freeman was “politically responsible for making sure the health workforce had access to PPE”, the inquiry heard, during evidence around procurement of PPE.

Giving evidence, Ms Freeman praised NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) and said it was “minimising the cost of procurement because you’re doing it at such scale”, although she acknowledged the country “often came close” to running out of key items.

She rejected claims from former prime minister Boris Johnson that the UK “should have one single route”, the inquiry heard.

Counsel for the inquiry Tom Stoate said: “The inquiry has heard about the evidence of a high priority or VIP lane for procurement of PPE. You’ve talked about how NSS worked. Did that mean Scotland needed a fast-track system?”

Ms Freeman said: “Absolutely not. We had offers of help, all of which were passed to NSS. A proper triage process would apply.”

She said that “due diligence” would be applied “to help decide whether new offers were appropriate to award new contracts”.

Ms Freeman added: “Audit Scotland said in 2021 there was no evidence of bias. We did not have a VIP lane and did not need one.

“My view is there are many questions to be asked about the VIP lane and application of due diligence and probity to any offer of supply when you are using public money, and when quality and appropriateness of PPE is critical to safety of your staff and patients they are treating.”

Mr Stoate asked: “Did Scotland run out of key items of PPE?”

Ms Freeman said: “No. We are saying we did not run out at any point; we often came close.”

Asked about a statement from Mr Johnson that “we should try to proceed as one UK” regarding procurement, Ms Freeman said: “If what the former PM means is we should have single procurement route, I don’t agree.

“I think it removes the democratic accountability of devolution of the Scottish Government, secondly the route UK Government took with the VIP lane is not one I would wish Scotland to take.

“Having a single system could lead to a system where Scottish ministers are responsible for actions in which they have no say.”

Caroline Lamb, chief executive of NHS Scotland and director general of Health and Social Care, told the inquiry that around 75,000 NHS staff have now been “fit-tested” for FFP3 masks in the wake of the pandemic, compared to around 7,000 prior to it.

Giving evidence, she said that in May 2020 Scotland provided two million FFP3 masks to England and another two million to Wales.

Ms Lamb said: “May was in the period when everyone was working really hard to provide PPE needed. As soon as we had that comfort we could provide what was needed in Scotland, we were very keen to provide mutual aid to other nations.

“The relationships at an official level were never bad, but what improved was that recognition that collaboration is great but you need to be equal partners in that collaboration and accept everybody’s skills and expertise.”

She added: “Scotland’s share of the UK stockpile was not big enough to cope with the scale of pandemic we experienced. We have worked hard now to put in place surge capacity. ‘Just in time’ may work when demand is fairly predictable, but we need to have in place ability to surge up stock to meet demand.”

Under cross-examination from Leslie Thomas KC, representing the Federation of Ethnic Minority Health Organisations, she said efforts had been stepped up to “fit-test” PPE for NHS staff.

Ms Lamb said: “What became clear in pandemic is one size doesn’t necessarily fit all and there was an issue for minority ethnic groups and women; there is a different range of fits available, we also worked closely with a supplier in Scotland to understand the demographics – not just understanding supply but that the people who need that supply have been fit-tested.

“The numbers have gone from 7,000 fit-tested pre-pandemic to around 75,000 in 2023.

“It’s not just about having the confidence you’ve got supply to meet people’s needs, it’s that they’re comfortable they can meet people’s needs.”

Gordon Beattie, director of national procurement for NSS, told the inquiry that only one “unsolicited offer” of PPE was acted upon.

He said “about 88% of PPE was produced in Scotland” and NSS was “inundated” with more than 2,000 offers, but only acted on one.

Mr Beattie said: “Everybody’s mailbox was getting emails in from well-meaning individuals who offered to get PPE, we were considering them and putting them through our normal process. We allocated staff to help support this, so we had a triage system.

“We had to secure the factory production slot weeks ahead and you had to pay upfront otherwise you would lose that slot.”

Paul Cackette, former deputy director in organisational readiness, director of PPE and director of outbreak management at the Scottish Government, said he was sometimes working from 6.30am until 2am, in the initial months of the pandemic.

In a statement, he said: “The Scottish Government went into the pandemic unprepared in terms of what was needed. Too much was asked of too few. A lack of preparation for the next pandemic would be unforgivable.”

Giving evidence, Mr Cackette said: “When I was redeployed at the end of March, I didn’t have a day off until the beginning of June, generally 6.30am until 8pm, sometimes I was finishing at 2am and starting again at 6.30am.”

The inquiry continues in front of Baroness Hallett.