Major suppliers of personal protective equipment (PPE) are refusing to send stocks to Scotland because they are prioritising England.

The global supply chain is under severe pressure as countries try to protect their frontline health and care workers during the pandemic.

Gompels, which is based in Melksham, Wiltshire, has said that it will not supply Scotland or Wales under a contract that it holds with Public Health England. “You must be registered and operating within England — apologies to Wales and Scotland, we are told you have different processes for getting emergency supplies,” its website states.

The UK Department of Health and Social Care said that supplies were being co-ordinated at a UK level.

Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care, which represents more than