Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
17
The Department said that in addition to holding a much larger stockpile, another alternate strategy...
Conclusion
The Department said that in addition to holding a much larger stockpile, another alternate strategy it could have previously adopted was to buy British and therefore creating a resilient, flexible PPE manufacturing industry in this country, rather than buying from abroad. It advised us that its future plans for a more resilient supply chain did include using British manufacturers to reduce dependence on international supply chains.32 The Department acknowledged it is essential that work is undertaken to establish a cost- effective approach for buying and holding appropriate levels of PPE.33 This will need to strike the right balance between ensuring the Department has sufficient quantities of PPE 26 Qq 54, 55, 59 27 Qq 32, 37 28 Q 88 29 Q 88 30 Q 47 31 Qq 48–52 32 Q 16 33 Q 48–49 Department of Health and Social Care 2020–21 Annual Report and Accounts 13 to protect the workforce in any future pandemic or from any variant of concern; and avoids paying for PPE at the top of the market, against holding PPE that incurs ongoing storage costs and expires if not used before it degrades. 14 Department of Health and Social Care 2020–21 Annual Report and Accounts 2 Accountability and future plans Proper use of public money
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
3: PAC conclusion: There is no clear plan for how big the PPE stockpile needs to be and how the Department will build greater resilience into the NHS supply chain so that it can respond at pace to future urgent needs. 3: PAC recommendation: The Department should develop a clear plan to increase the resilience of the NHS supply chain to be able to respond at speed if there is another pandemic or variant of concern and needs to explain in detail to the Committee how it intends to work out what items and how much PPE it needs to hold as a national stockpile going forward. 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2023 3.2 The department is undertaking a fundamental review of the clinical countermeasures, including PPE, that need to be readily accessible in event of a future pandemic or emerging infectious disease. This review factors in lessons learnt from COVID-19 pandemic, the updated analysis of risks undertaken for the next iteration of the National Risk Register and the department’s new approach to pandemic preparedness. 3.3 Informed by expert advice and modelling, the department is working closely with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS Supply Chain on the product mix and amounts of PPE that need to be held to support resilience and response to a future pandemic or emerging infectious disease. The department expects to be able to offer more information on the results of this work to the Committee in early 2023. 3.4 Any potential PPE demand increases that may occur during the rest of this financial year as a result of possible COVID-19 variants of concern have been factored into amounts held in the existing provision to the end of March 2023. The amount of stock that needs to be held for a new pandemic or variant concern beyond this period is being considered as part of the wider work on stockpiling.