Forty-Second Report - COVID-19: Government procurement and supply of Personal Protective Equipment

Select Committee

Public Accounts Committee HC 928 10 February 2021

Report Status Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations 29 items (11 recs)

Source View on Parliament website

Government Response (AI assessment · 29 of 29 classified)

Accepted 14

Acknowledged 6

Deferred 1

Not Addressed 8

Government response

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty-second report from Session 2019-21 · published 3 Sep 2021

Read the government response ↗ Response on the tracker

Recommendations & Conclusions

14 results

5 Recommendation Accepted

The Department does not know enough about the experience of frontline staff, particularly BAME staff.

Recommendation

The Department does not know enough about the experience of frontline staff, particularly BAME staff. The Department set up a daily process for gathering information about the PPE required by local organisations and maintains that its formal reporting arrangements did … Read more The Department does not know enough about the experience of frontline staff, particularly BAME staff. The Department set up a daily process for gathering information about the PPE required by local organisations and maintains that its formal reporting arrangements did not identify any provider organisation, in health or social care, as having run out of PPE. Despite this, Care England is clear that some social care providers did run out of PPE, and representative organisations’ surveys showed staff reported PPE shortages. In a survey by the Royal College of Nursing many nurses reported being asked to reuse single-use items of PPE. Frontline staff found the multiple iterations of guidance confusing and were concerned that the guidance did not specify a high enough level of PPE to properly protect them. Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff were more likely to report experiencing PPE shortages, feeling pressured to work without adequate protection, and not being fit tested for respirator masks. A third of BAME doctors reported experiencing PPE shortages compared with 14% of white doctors, Similarly, almost half of BAME nurses said that they had not been fit tested for respirator masks compared with 74% of white nurses. By October 2020, employers had reported 126 deaths and 8,152 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 among health and care workers as being linked to occupational exposure. The Department asserts that there is no evidence that these deaths were caused by PPE shortages, but confirmed that medical examiners will fully investigate the death of all staff within trusts to determine whether this has been the result of occupational exposure to the virus. Recommendation: The Department needs to better understand the experience of frontline staff during the first wave of the pandemic, and ensure lessons are learned so it can better respond in a future emergency. It should particularly focus on the different reported experiences of staff from different ethnic backgro Show less

Government Response Summary

The government accepted the recommendation to better understand frontline staff experiences, including BAME staff, with a target implementation date of July 2021. It confirmed it is factoring evidence into engagement programs, continuously seeking feedback, and considering options for further qualitative insights, with an update to be provided.

HM Treasury

View Details

6 Recommendation Accepted

We are concerned that the Department’s ordering of an enormous amount of PPE might compromise...

Recommendation

We are concerned that the Department’s ordering of an enormous amount of PPE might compromise government’s ambition to maintain a UK manufacturing base for PPE. Between February and July 2020, the Department ordered 32 billion items of PPE. It intended … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government accepts the recommendation and commits to sharing details of its future PPE strategy by July 2021. This strategy will outline how ordered PPE will be used, how UK manufacturing will be incentivized, and how supply chain resilience will be ensured.

HM Treasury

View Details

7 Recommendation Accepted

The Department has wasted hundreds of millions of pounds on PPE which is of poor...

Recommendation

The Department has wasted hundreds of millions of pounds on PPE which is of poor quality and cannot be used for the intended purpose. The urgent need for PPE meant it accepted more risks when buying PPE than it usually … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government accepts the recommendation and commits to completing a quality review of all PPE by June 2021. It will report to the Committee by July 2021, detailing volumes, costs, and methodology for PPE that is unusable or unsuitable for its intended purpose.

HM Treasury

View Details

8 Recommendation Accepted

It should also update us on the number of contracts (and their financial value) in...

Recommendation

It should also update us on the number of contracts (and their financial value) in which it is seeking to recover costs for undelivered or substandard PPE. COVID-19: Government procurement and supply of Personal Protective Equipment 11 1 Government’s approach … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation and commits to writing to the Committee by the end of July 2021 to report on the number and financial value of contracts where it has recovered, attempted to recover, or is still seeking to recover costs for undelivered or substandard PPE.

HM Treasury

View Details

9 Conclusion Accepted

Access to the high-priority lane was based on recommendations coming from government officials, ministers’ offices,...

Conclusion

Access to the high-priority lane was based on recommendations coming from government officials, ministers’ offices, MPs and members of the House of Lords. The NAO found that there were no written rules which determined the basis on which suppliers should … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with an implied recommendation to learn lessons from PPE procurement. It will publish updated policy on emergency procurement, including guidance for selecting suppliers, by July 2021, disseminating these findings to the wider Government Commercial Function.

HM Treasury

View Details

11 Conclusion Accepted

Between February and July 2020, the Department ordered 32 billion items of PPE.

Conclusion

Between February and July 2020, the Department ordered 32 billion items of PPE. The Department told us that it was seeking to avoid shortages in the event of a potential second wave and had deliberately looked to build up a … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government detailed existing measures for PPE management, including maintaining a four-month stockpile, tracking stock, and conducting quality reviews. It stated that information on the future approach to stockpile management would be made available in due course, and a review of countermeasures for disease outbreaks is underway.

HM Treasury

View Details

12 Recommendation Accepted

Government’s PPE strategy aims to build a UK manufacturing base so that there is a...

Recommendation

Government’s PPE strategy aims to build a UK manufacturing base so that there is a resilient domestic supply. The Department explained that 70% of PPE (excluding gloves) that it expected would be supplied between December 2020 and February 2021 should … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation and commits to sharing more details on its future PPE strategy, encompassing how it will use ordered PPE, incentivise UK-made PPE, and ensure supply chain resilience, with the Committee by July 2021.

HM Treasury

View Details

15 Recommendation Accepted

The Department had not calculated the value of unusable or potentially unsuitable items but told...

Recommendation

The Department had not calculated the value of unusable or potentially unsuitable items but told us that it was currently undertaking work to estimate this and committed to coming back to us with a timetable for when this would be … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees to provide an update by the end of July 2021 on the number and value of contracts where it has successfully recovered costs, made efforts to recover costs, or is still seeking to recover costs for undelivered or substandard PPE.

HM Treasury

View Details

16 Conclusion Accepted

The Department accepted that the urgent need for PPE meant it accepted greater risks when...

Conclusion

The Department accepted that the urgent need for PPE meant it accepted greater risks when buying PPE than it usually would. The Department maintained, however, that it did not ask the Health and Safety Executive to lower standards. It told … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with an implied recommendation and commits to completing a review of all PPE quality by June 2021. It will report findings to the Committee by July 2021, detailing which products are suitable for frontline use, and provide an assessment of costs for unsuitable PPE.

HM Treasury

View Details

18 Conclusion Accepted

In March 2020, officials from NHS England & NHS Improvement publicly assured the Health and...

Conclusion

In March 2020, officials from NHS England & NHS Improvement publicly assured the Health and Social Care Select Committee that these stockpiles meant the country was well placed to manage the COVID19 pandemic. However, the NAO report found that the … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with an implied recommendation to improve PPE management and distribution. It confirms a four-month stockpile, increased UK manufacturing, a flexible logistics network, and processes for stock tracking and quality review, with further details on future strategy to follow.

HM Treasury

View Details

20 Conclusion Accepted

Almost all the PPE was manufactured abroad and had to be shipped, flown or put...

Conclusion

Almost all the PPE was manufactured abroad and had to be shipped, flown or put on a train to the UK. This meant it took a long time to be delivered. Therefore, despite the creation of the parallel supply chain, … Read more Almost all the PPE was manufactured abroad and had to be shipped, flown or put on a train to the UK. This meant it took a long time to be delivered. Therefore, despite the creation of the parallel supply chain, the time lag between ordering PPE and it being available, the Department could barely satisfy local organisations’ requirements.30 Representatives of the frontline of health and social care sector told us they experienced various problems accessing the PPE they needed, and in some cases could not access it 27 Qq 109–110, 116–118, 120, 146; C&AG’s Report The supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, Figure 3 28 Qq 13, 120, 145–146; C&AG’s Report The supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, paras 8, 1.8–1.9, 1.14, 1.16, Figure 4; House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, Oral evidence: Coronavirus – NHS Preparedness, Session 2019–2021, HC 36, 17 March 2020, Qq 129–132 29 Qq 144–147 30 C&AG’s Report The supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, paras 13 and 2.22, Figure 9 COVID-19: Government procurement and supply of Personal Protective Equipment 17 at all. The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing told us that, in March and April, the PPE they ordered by providers through the NHS Supply Chain was not provided and when government did eventually provide PPE it provided only tiny amounts. Care England explained that providers had to buy their own PPE at hugely inflated costs, buying from suppliers they were unfamiliar with and running the risk of being sold substandard PPE. The British Medical Association provided one example of paying £150 for five respirator masks which, as shown in the NAO report, would have cost around £1 each in 2019. Care England told us that the situation within the social care sector was even worse than the NHS, with established supply chains being disrupted and reports of PPE being redirected from social Show less

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with an implied recommendation and outlines its current and future PPE strategy, including increased UK manufacturing capability, holding a four-month stockpile, and developing a flexible logistics network to improve distribution and mitigate demand fluctuations.

HM Treasury

View Details

22 Recommendation Accepted

We have previously noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the tragic impact of delaying...

Recommendation

We have previously noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the tragic impact of delaying much needed social care reform and integration with health, and instead treating the sector as the NHS’s poor relation.35 Between March 2020 and July 2020, … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation and commits to writing to the Committee by the end of April 2021 with an update on its future approach for PPE management and a framework for responding to future shortages, giving appropriate weight to all health and social care sectors.

HM Treasury

View Details

23 Conclusion Accepted

Care England and the British Medical Association told us that the contingency planning process for...

Conclusion

Care England and the British Medical Association told us that the contingency planning process for a pandemic appeared to focus on the NHS at the expense of the social care sector despite some of the most vulnerable people being in … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agreed with the committee's recommendation (PAC Rec 4, not the provided committee text), committing to providing an update by April 2021 on how it will revise emergency response plans for health and social care, and is developing a framework for responding to future PPE shortages.

HM Treasury

View Details

27 Conclusion Accepted

By October 2020, employers had reported 8,152 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 and 126 deaths as...

Conclusion

By October 2020, employers had reported 8,152 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 and 126 deaths as being linked to occupational exposure among health and care workers.45 The British Medical Association and Unison asserted that the Department should investigate whether PPE shortages … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government states that mechanisms are in place through coroners, medical examiners, and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate COVID-19 work-related deaths, and that HSE is currently undertaking these investigations.

HM Treasury

View Details