Conclusion 12

On the basis of the material we have seen, the risk appetite appears to have been so high at the time that the Department does not seem to have responded to the information it was receiving as part of the contracting process in a way that would be appropriate in normal times. The Department had an overriding impetus to buy and though it conducted 4 Public Accounts Committee, COVID-19 Government procurement and supply of Personal Protective Equipment, February 2021, and Public Accounts Committee, Department of Health and Social Care 2020–21 Annual Report and Accounts, Paras 19–20 PPE Medpro: awarding of contracts during the pandemic 5 some checks, found aspects of bids or companies that were sub-optimal and put in place some limited safeguards (including assurances and payment on delivery), it then bought the products anyway. Colloquially, this might be called panic-buying.