GPs have hit out after receiving PPE aprons made out of repurposed polythene bags.
Practices in the Highlands, Fife and the Borders are among those sent batches of white aprons in relabelled boxes, which had previously been labelled for "white tint polythene bags".
The Scottish Government said the boxes had been "mislabelled" and the "items in question are PPE, not bin bags".
A spokeswoman stressed that they "fully comply with all regulations and have passed rigorous quality assurance".
Jagged marks are reportedly visible around the seams of some of the aprons, suggesting scissors have been used to cut arm holes in the polythene to turn them into PPE aprons.
Hospital doctors in parts of England are understood to have received similar supplies earlier this year.
In June, bosses at Southmead Hospital in Bristol had to recall a batch of PPE aprons after staff complained they were little more than "bin bags with the bottom cut off them".
One Highland GP said her own practice had received a box where the polythene bag label was covered over by another label reading 'white aprons'.
She said she knew of at least two other practices in the region who had also received the same supplies.
She added that even if they were "not bin bags per se" they were "still unsafe".
A BMA Scotland spokeswoman said: “Clearly this has caused concern to those who have received this PPE.
"We are urgently bringing this to the attention of the Scottish Government/Chief Medical Officer, to seek the clear assurances required – in line with the commitment made by the Cabinet Secretary to address any concerns our members have over PPE.”
Nurses United UK, who campaigned for PPE back in March, said the aprons were putting frontline NHS workers at risk.
Anthony Johnson, lead organiser for the group, said: “Once again our frontline workers can’t get the bare minimum of proper equipment to keep themselves safe – this is disgusting.”
One Twitter user, whose profile says she is an emergency doctor with a degree in infectious diseases, said the design was "dangerous" because it could only be removed - or 'doffed' - by pulling the apron over the user's head, potentially exposing their nose and mouth area to viral contamination.
GPs commenting on Twitter described the supplies as "a joke" and a "national scandal", adding that it "shows how much we are valued".
Another emergency doctor added that "you can't doff them without contaminating your clothes".
Dr Iain Kennedy, a GP in Inverness and the Highland Local Medical Committee Secretary for BMA Scotland, said his own practice was among those to receive the aprons this week.
I can confirm that my own practice in Inverness received these, and this is what I’ve been wearing this week.
— Dr Iain Kennedy (@DrIainKennedy) November 11, 2020
They are a bit undignified (and tight at the shoulders) but probably do the job as well as the other ones.@BMAScotland @HighlandLMC
He said he did not believe they necessarily posed an infection control danger however.
He said: "They are a bit undignified (and tight at the shoulders) but probably do the job as well as the other ones."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We are aware of a small number of comments on social media around PPE provided to a doctor, which was mislabelled.
"We can confirm that the items in question are PPE, not bin bags. Among the half a billion PPE items supplied to date, this is a rare instance of mislabelling and National Services Scotland (NSS) continue to urgently work with supply partners to remedy these as swiftly as possible.
"We have spoken with NHS NSS who have confirmed that all items, including these ‘smock-style’ aprons, fully comply with all regulations and have passed rigorous quality assurance.
“To secure unprecedented quantities of PPE in support of our national response to COVID-19, NSS National Procurement secured aprons from a range of accredited manufacturers.
"These vary in style and design but all of them have passed rigorous quality assurance. Independent testing has confirmed that they all provide the required level of protection for the settings in which they should be used.
“The National Procurement Division of NSS continues to work 24/7 to source and supply the PPE Scotland needs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and has successfully sourced and supplied almost half a billion items of PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here