Protective headgear made with the help of a donation from a taxpayer-backed Aberdeen organisation has been rejected by NHS Grampian.
Those behind the initiative insist the thousands of face visors have been well-received by north-east care home staff and district nurses.
The Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) gave Air Control Entech (Ace) an unspecified sum so that it could buy a machine to churn out 2,000 units a day.
Ace, an offshore drone inspection company based in Bridge of Don, said it had “diversified to create more than 78,000 visors” in an effort to “support frontline staff at NHS Grampian, as well as local care homes”.
Chief operating officer Kieran Hope claimed the protective gear had already been donated directly to hospitals and care homes all over the north-east.
But yesterday a spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said the organisation had declined the visors after assessing “samples” and deciding they were “not right for hospital use”.
