RAF jet sets off to bring vital PPE to the UK from Turkey for desperate NHS workers – but it could take days to arrive

DESPERATE officials scrambled an RAF plane to Turkey yesterday to collect a delayed delivery of gowns — but it could still be sat on the tarmac for days.

Health chiefs have repeatedly warned supplies are critically low and medics could be forced to work without them in hours.

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Ministers raised hopes by promising 400,000 from Turkey on Sunday but they have so far failed to arrive.

The MoD said a cargo plane left RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at about 4.30pm on Monday to collect the order.

Two more jets are on standby but sources say the full consignment is still not ready and may not arrive here until the end of the week.

Today Local Government Minister Simon Clarke insisted it would be in Britain "in the next few days".

Asked whether it had left Turkey yet, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I can't speak to that, I'm afraid. All I know is it set off last night.

"It will be with us obviously in the UK in the next few days, which is the core priority.";

The personal protective equipment is thought to be awaiting quality checks, although Turkey have blamed the UK for the delay.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “We’re working to resolve the Turkish shipment of PPE as soon as possible, following some unexpected delays at the weekend.”

A separate order of 140,000 gowns arrived from Myanmar yesterday — but the NHS is getting through 150,000 a day.

On Friday, bosses warned the NHS could run out within hours.

The Government has appointed 2012 Olympics chief Lord Deighton to lead a national effort to increase PPE production in the UK.

Some 6,000 companies have offered to help but there is a global shortage of materials to make it.

NHS leaders claim staff are going without PPE because foreign suppliers have let them down.

One shipment from China was found to contain just 20,000 gowns when it should have had 200,000. Others have failed safety tests while some were mislabelled.

But unions last night called for a judge-led inquiry into the “grotesque failure” of PPE planning.