Nicola Sturgeon FMQs RECAP: Scotland's First Minister challenged on drug deaths | Douglas Ross calls for action | Anas Sarwar demands answers on 'PPE shortages'

Scotland’s central stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) ran “very low” in the early stages of the pandemic, a report has found, while the surge in prices cost the NHS £37.4 million more than normal for the safety kit.

Audit Scotland has released its long-awaited report into how the Scottish Government and NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) managed PPE arrangements.

A similar study carried out at a UK level by the National Audit Office found the UK spent £10 billion extra in inflated prices for PPE due to an “inadequate” stockpile and the surge in global demand early in the pandemic.

The Audit Scotland report, released on Thursday, reiterated its earlier finding that the Scottish Government did not fully implement recommendations from pandemic preparedness exercises.

It also said the Government could have done more to ensure access to PPE and training in its use.

As global demand surged and overseas factories closed, PPE prices doubled in early 2020.

The amount of alcohol sold per person in Scotland fell to the lowest level for 26 years last year – but was still higher than it was in England and Wales.

New figures show 9.4 litres of pure alcohol were sold per adult in 2020 – the equivalent to each adult in the country drinking 18 units a week.

The report said this is the “lowest level seen in Scotland over the available time series (1994 onwards)”, with the drop from 9.9 litres per person in 2019 the largest on record.

While the amount of pure alcohol sold per person north of the border was 6% higher than in England and Wales, this was the smallest difference recorded since 1994.

The report, the latest from Public Health Scotland monitoring the impact of alcohol policy, found almost a quarter (24%) of all adults reported exceeding the safe weekly drinking guideline of 14 units a week in 2019.

This, however, was down from just over a third (34%) in 2003.

There were 1,020 people whose deaths were described as being “wholly attributable to alcohol” in 2019 – an average of 20 people per week.

Over the course of 2019-20, 23,685 people were admitted to hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis. Some of this group required such treatment more than once over the year, meaning there were 35,781 in-patient stays.