MPs criticise government over failure to control PPE stocks and lack of future planning

The government has no proper control over existing stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE) and no clear plan for an emergency stockpile for any future pandemic, MPs have concluded in a highly critical report.1The Public Accounts Committee’s report also said that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which was established in 2021 after Public Health England was disbanded, was set up with no formal governance and weak financial controls.In the past two years the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has had to write off £9.9bn of PPE, £2.6bn of covid medicines, and £1.9bn of covid vaccines. The write-off was due to the department overpaying for items at the height of the pandemic and over-ordering PPE that cannot, or will not, be used.Three years since the start of the pandemic the government still lacks adequate controls over its PPE, the report said, with vast quantities waiting for disposal by…
Read Original Article: MPs criticise government over failure to control PPE stocks and lack of future planning »