An RAF plane, believed to be carrying a delayed consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS staff, has landed in the UK, three days later than originally expected.
The equipment is essential for front line workers to protect them from being infected with coronavirus, as more than 17,000 people have died in hospitals in the UK from Covid-19.
Flight tracker RadarBox showed the Airbus A400-M registered ZM416 departed Istanbul and landed just after 3.30am today at RAF Brize Norton.
The plane had been dispatched from the Oxfordshire base, where two other planes are on stand-by to pick up further kit from Turkey, late on Monday.
It is not known if the consignment, which was ordered on Thursday and originally due to arrive on Sunday, includes 400,000 badly-needed surgical gowns as supplies were running low due to the increased demand.
The government has come in for mounting criticism over its failure to ensure NHS staff treating coronavirus patients have the protective equipment they need.
A virtual House of Commons will sit later this morning, with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab likely to face a series of questions from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and MPs on the government's handling of the pandemic during Prime Minister's Questions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be taking part in PMQs today as he is recovering from coronavirus at Chequers, his country estate, and Mr Raab is standing in for him.
Ministers insisted they were pursuing "every possible option" to secure additional kit but said that, with unprecedented worldwide demand, the situation is "very challenging".
The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, indicated at the weekend that the huge consignment of PPE would be arriving on Sunday, but it faced delays, before it finally arrived three days late.
The Local Government Minister, Simon Clarke, speaking on Tuesday, said he was not able to give a timescale on when the full supplies would arrive, saying it would be "in the next few days".
Separately, the government said that 140,000 gowns had arrived from Burma - but with the NHS using 150,000 a day, there is no let up in the demand on resources for front line workers.
With fears that staff in hospitals and care homes are risking their lives, the TUC called for an independent inquiry into the government's handling of the issue to be mounted before the end of the year.
Hospitals have sought other ways of obtaining PPE, with the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust buying 6,000 sets of coveralls due to a very low stock of gowns, although it admitted this was "not ideal".
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, has said trusts are being forced into "hand-to-mouth" workarounds, including washing single-use gowns and restricting stocks to key areas.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak told reporters at the Number 10 press briefing on Monday that work was ongoing to find more PPE.
He said: "We're improving our sourcing internationally and domestically to make sure we can get the PPE we need in what is a very challenging international context.
"But people on the front line can rest assured that we're doing absolutely everything we can and straining everything we can to get the equipment they need."
