PPE failures left NHS staff poorly protected and wasted billions, Covid inquiry finds
A UK government inquiry has concluded that poor planning and procurement failures led to the waste of nearly £10 billion on inadequate PPE during the Covid-19 pandemic. The report criticizes the government's overreliance on foreign manufacturing and lack of stress-tested contingency plans.
Why it matters
This report exposes significant systemic failures in government crisis management and public spending accountability during a national emergency.
Image source, Getty Images By Jim Reed Health reporter Published 14 minutes ago Planning failures and other flaws meant doctors and nurses were forced to work without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) in the pandemic, the Covid inquiry has said.
The fifth report from the inquiry found that healthcare staff were unable to properly protect themselves, or those in their care, from dangerous infections.
The UK entered the pandemic with its stockpile of masks, gowns and gloves in a "perilous state" with the country "simply not ready to compete" in the global race to secure new supplies.
Of the £14.9bn spent by the government on PPE, nearly two thirds – almost £10bn – was wasted, the report concluded.
The inquiry's chair, Baroness Hallett, described the waste of taxpayers' money as "vast" and said an overreliance on China to manufacture equipment left the UK "dangerously overexposed".
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