Government destroys £1.4bn of unused PPE in ‘largest waste of pandemic’

Labour has branded the Conservative Government’s move to destroy about £1.4bn worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) from a single deal as a case of “staggering waste.”

NHS supplier Full Support Healthcare manufactured at least 1.57 billion items of PPE that were never used, despite being made to the required standard. It reportedly agreed a £1.78bn deal with the Government in April 2020.

The Northamptonshire supplier would provide face masks, respirators, eye protection and aprons as part of the arrangement. It was the largest single PPE order from a single supplier during the Covid era and accounted for 13 percent of the Government’s spending.

According to the BBC, who obtained the figures, Full Support Healthcare had annual profits of £800,000 before the pandemic. Its current profits are unknown as co-directors Sarah and Richard Stoute moved the business to Jersey.

The broadcaster added the company continue to pay all its taxes due to the UK and that neither the company or the Stoutes had done anything improper. Of the estimated 2.02 billion PPE items provided by Full Support, only 232 million made it into the NHS or care settings. Neither Full Support Healthcare nor the Stoutes have done anything improper.

An estimated 749 million pieces of PPE equipment were burned or otherwise destroyed and some 825 million were classified as excess stock “where disposal and recycling are possible outcomes,” the BBC reported. The Mirror has contacted the Department of Health and Social Care for comment.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting blasted the Government over what he called “staggering waste” of taxpayers’ money. He added: “We all know that billions of pounds was wasted during the pandemic on corruption and incompetence, but what the BBC has uncovered is the worst example I have ever seen – £1.4bn on one contract, paying for PPE that was never used. It is staggering waste and I think we need a full and frank account as to how so much public money was thrown down the toilet.”

In a previous statement sent to the BBC, the Government claimed it had “acted swiftly to procure PPE at the height of the pandemic.” The Government added it was “competing in an overheated global market” where demand outstripped supply.

Ex-Government procurement adviser Peter Smith told the BBC initial forecasts for the amount of PPE needed were “far higher than they should have been.” He added: “I think the procurement people did what many of us would have done and slightly panicked to get the stuff in, or at least get the contracts in and hope the stuff arrived later – it was almost as though price didn’t matter. It meant opportunists and middlemen in entirely unrelated industries could make extortionate margins by organising supply from China or wherever, sometimes literally doubling their purchase price.”