Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 27
27
At our evidence session NHS England told us it was expecting wastage levels to increase...
Conclusion
At our evidence session NHS England told us it was expecting wastage levels to increase in 2022, because of the anticipated fall in overall demand.67 This is because, as demand reduces, it becomes harder to guarantee that all doses in a given pack will be used up within the designated time period. The programme has already seen how reduced demand can adversely impact wastage: in 2021, it had to write off around 1.9 million AstraZeneca doses as demand fell following changes to clinical advice on how AstraZeneca should be used.68 We asked officials about their learning from the AstraZeneca situation. We heard from NHS England that joint working between it, the Taskforce and UKHSA would be critical to minimising wastage in future.69