Hospitals have been blocked from setting up their own "PPE factories" by the government - despite the desperate need to protect frontline staff, it is claimed.
A furious MP has branded it "criminal" after his local NHS trust was told it could not cut a deal to make thousands of surgical gowns to use in their hospitals - or accept safety gear made by inmates a nearby prison.
A trust insider described it as "scandalous", saying staff are in desperate need of PPE, and hospital chiefs wanted to "just get on and sort it" rather than wait for lifesaving equipment to be distributed by the government.
Labour MP Ian Lavery, who represents Wansbeck in Northumberland, accused health authorities of "bullying" leaders at Northumbria Healthcare NHS