British military personnel have criticised the NHS for its “appalling” handling of distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) amid continued complaints of shortages.
The British Army is currently helping the health service deploy the much needed PPE, however, it is understood the military is said 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 large amounts of PPE including 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.
The source claimed the 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.
It is understood military commanders are believed to be frustrated that the COVID-19 Support Force has not been called in to lead the operations and allocate the PPE correctly, given that planning and logistics are military specialities.
Chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee, Tobias Ellwood, called on HM’s government to appoint a military specialist as logistics boss to alleviate the PPE crisis, saying the army is ‘extremely enthusiastic’ to assist.
Mr Ellwood 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.
The criticism comes as a supply of PPE from Turkey arrived in the United Kingdom on an RAF plane in the early hours of the morning (22nd of April).
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The MoD understands just how challenging logistics can be, especially under current pressures. Of course there may be frictions at a local level, but those same armed forces are doing everything possible to support their health colleagues. The MoD has full confidence in the NHS.”
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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