NHS Scotland will receive £53 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) from a Dumfriesshire-based supplier.
At a briefing earlier today, the First Minister for Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, announced that Alpha Solway has been selected to manufacture 232 million surgical masks and two 2 million visors for NHS Scotland.
In addition to ensuring NHS Scotland’s frontline staff have the required PPE, this contract will also create 200 extra jobs in addition to the 50 already created at Alpha Solway since the start of the pandemic.
The company is also making an additional six million FFP3 respirator masks which will meet around 87 per cent of Scotland’s health and social care needs.
Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation Ivan McKee said: “This is fantastic news for Dumfriesshire and for NHS Scotland. It is great that this substantial PPE order will be supplied by Scottish firm Alpha Solway.
“It delivers significant savings to the NHS as well as supporting vital jobs – both at Alpha Solway and at other Scottish businesses in their supply chain – and demonstrates that Scottish manufacturing is competitive on a global stage.
“The order also highlights that the proactive work undertaken during lockdown to bolster the Covid-19 supply chain is continuing to deliver real benefits in the form of higher employment, increased manufacturing activity and savings for our NHS.”
The £53 million NHS Scotland order was awarded to Alpha Solway through a regulated procurement framework with Arco, a major national distributor of PPE.
