Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Not all of the PPE the Department bought can be used.
Conclusion
Not all of the PPE the Department bought can be used. The Department told us that only 0.5% of the 18 billion items of PPE it had received and checked so far had failed to meet clinical safety standards and therefore could not be used at all. However, this figure 17 C&AG’s Report The supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, para 2.26; Qq 193–196, 232, 267–269 18 Qq 193–197, 270–271; C&AG’s Report The supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, paras 4.5, 4.10 19 Qq 194–197, 248, 267–268 20 Letter from Department of Health & Social Care, 15 January 2021 COVID-19: Government procurement and supply of Personal Protective Equipment 15 is not complete, both because the calculation does not include PPE which the Department hopes to use for different purposes to that for which it was intended, and because much PPE is yet to be received or tested. The Department accepted that this figure would change as it finished its process of checking. The NAO report found that the Department had identified 195 million items of PPE that were unusable or potentially unsuitable, which would be around 1% of the items received to date.21 The Department explained that this included a wider group of products, including those which could not be used for their intended purpose but could be used in other ways.22 In its letter after our evidence session, the Department stated that its updated estimate was that 1.3% of the items bought were not fit for the original intended purpose and that 0.4% were not fit for any purpose. The letter did not provide information on the number of items tested to date.23
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
7: PAC conclusion: The Department has wasted hundreds of millions of pounds on PPE which is of poor quality and cannot be used for the intended purpose. 7a: PAC recommendation: The Department should write to the Committee by July 2021 setting out how much of the PPE it ordered it has received and checked, and the volumes and costs of the PPE that (a) cannot be used at all; (b) cannot be used for its intended purpose; and (c) its methodology for determining the volumes and costs of PPE which it considers to be in each of these categories. 7.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: July 2021 7.2 Processes are underway to review the quality of all the PPE the government has bought, which is on course to complete by the end of June 2021. 7.3 This process will determine whether or not products are suitable to be released to the frontline. Any products that are not currently used on the frontline will be subject to further quality investigation and contractual review. The department will write to the Committee by the end of July 2021 to report on the findings from this analysis. In January 2021, the department reported to the Committee that 1.3% of total PPE bought could not be used for its original intended purpose. This was generated as a best estimate at the time. The department is now reviewing with support of external audit to assess the current 11% of ordered volume that is not currently being supplied to the frontline. After this work is complete, it will be able to give a final accurate per cent of volume that cannot be used for its original intended purpose. A total of 0.31% of delivered volume are marked as wastage. 7.4 This review will enable an assessment of the costs of the PPE in each of these categories to be made. An assessment of the value of the stock will be made, using the weighted average cost model, and the department will provide the Committee with a detailed breakdown in July 2021.