Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Prior to the pandemic, the role of procuring and managing PPE was largely the responsibility...
Conclusion
Prior to the pandemic, the role of procuring and managing PPE was largely the responsibility of Supply Chain Co-ordination Limited.50 In March 2020, when the Department realised that SCCL alone would not be able to procure the volume of PPE required, the Department took a more central role in PPE procurement.51 SCCL continued play an active role though, procuring a total of 17.4 billion PPE items through contracts worth £5.2 billion. With the need for further procurement now seen as unlikely, the Department passed responsibility for managing the supply of PPE back over to SCCL from April 2022.52 Oversight of SCCL was transferred from the Department to NHS England and NHS Improvement in October 2021.53 NHS England’s Chief Commercial Officer is now the Senior Responsible Officer for SCCL and meets quarterly with the SCCL executive team to discuss performance.54
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
5: PAC conclusion: The Department has handed back responsibility for the PPE programme to Supply Chain Coordination Limited (SCCL) with many issues still to be resolved. 5: PAC recommendation: The Department should release its PPE strategy in full as soon as possible, setting out how it will work with SCCL and what the respective roles and responsibilities of each organisation will be in the ongoing management of contracts and future procurement activities. If the strategy is not available by the end of September, the Department should write to the Committee to explain the reason for the delay. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: Autumn 2022 5.2 The responsibility for the supply and distribution of Covid-19 PPE moved to the NHS Supply Chain in April 2022. The NHS Supply Chain will work to integrate the provision of PPE to acute settings through existing infrastructure to remove any duplication from the operation and will manage the PPE Portal and associated distribution network for other settings to ensure non-acute providers can continue to access free PPE. The department wrote to the Committee on 19 April setting out the split of roles and responsibilities between the two organisations. 5.3 The work on the updated Strategy is well developed. The department is committed to publishing the Strategy as soon as it is possible and will update the Committee on the plans for publication in due course.