UK wasted £9.9 billion on Covid PPE, finds inquiry; stockpile, procurement flaws flagged

Nearly £9.9 billion worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) bought during the Covid-19 pandemic was wasted in the UK, a public inquiry has found. It concluded that the country entered the health crisis with inadequate stockpiles and an emergency procurement system that was ill-prepared for the surge in demand.In a report released on Tuesday, inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett said the UK and devolved governments spent £14.9 billion on PPE during the pandemic, with around two-thirds of that expenditure ultimately written off as unused or expired equipment, as reported by BBC.UK began the pandemic with its PPE stockpile in a “perilous state” and was “simply not ready to compete” in the global race to secure masks, gowns and gloves as Covid-19 spread.According to the inquiry, shortages of protective equipment put NHS staff and patients at risk, while care homes, GP surgeries and pharmacies were left to source their own PPE, a move described as a “major failure in planning”.The inquiry also criticised the government’s “VIP lane”, introduced in April 2020 to fast-track PPE offers referred by ministers, MPs, peers and senior officials. Baroness Hallett described the policy as a “misguided attempt at prioritisation” that undermined public confidence by giving preferential treatment to suppliers with political connections.However, the report said it found no evidence of cronyism or corruption by ministers or officials in the awarding of contracts.When spending on home Covid testing kits, ventilators and other medical equipment is included, the UK government spent more than £42 billion between January 2020 and June 2022, the inquiry found.The report noted that only one-third of England’s stockpile of face masks was usable at the start of the pandemic, while Scotland had no stock of high-grade respirator masks used in hospitals.It also alleged further losses, including £157 million worth of unused healthcare equipment and £143 million spent under the government’s “ventilator challenge” programme on designs that never entered production.The inquiry recommended a “radical overhaul” of the UK’s emergency procurement and distribution systems, improvements to the national pandemic stockpile, and the development of a domestic manufacturing strategy for critical healthcare equipment to better prepare the country for future public health emergencies.Responding to the findings, the UK government said it would study the inquiry’s recommendations carefully and remained committed to learning lessons from the pandemic to strengthen preparedness for future health crises.