The Covid inquiry has concluded that serious shortages of personal protective equipment endangered NHS staff and patients throughout the pandemic, while the government squandered substantial public funds in its effort to secure adequate supplies. The inquiry chair, Baroness Hallett, identified £9.9bn in wasted expenditure out of the £14.9bn total spent on PPE. She noted that the UK began the health crisis with an inadequate stockpile of masks, gowns, and gloves, leaving the nation unprepared for intense global competition to obtain these materials.
The national emergency stockpile, which was supposed to maintain at least 15 weeks of supplies before requiring replenishment, had been depleted by the end of March 2020 as hospital demand surged. The inquiry found that only one-third of masks held in England’s pandemic reserve were fit for use, while Scotland possessed no high-grade respiratory masks suitable for hospital settings. Care homes, general practices, and pharmacies were tasked with procuring their own PPE, a situation the report characterized as a significant planning shortfall. The government ultimately wrote off £9.9bn in unused or expired PPE and an additional £157m in unused healthcare equipment across the UK nations, with separate losses in Scotland (£8mn), Wales (£18m), and Northern Ireland (£43m).
The inquiry criticized a controversial procurement channel known as the VIP lane, officially termed the high priority lane, which was established in April 2020 to expedite PPE contract awards from suppliers recommended by ministers, MPs, or senior officials. Baroness Hallett characterized this system as a “misguided attempt at prioritisation” that “embedded unfairness in emergency procurement” and recommended against its future use. However, she stated she had not identified evidence of cronyism or corruption by government officials when contracts were ultimately awarded, though some suppliers with political connections received preferential treatment.
The inquiry’s findings included recommendations for a comprehensive overhaul of emergency PPE procurement systems, development of a domestic industry strategy treating healthcare equipment as a strategic national asset, and improvements to the pandemic stockpile maintained in Merseyside. The total government spending on PPE, testing kits, and equipment such as ventilators between January 2020 and June 2022 exceeded £42bn. A section of the report concerning PPE Medpro, a firm linked to businessman Doug Barrowman and Baroness Michelle Mone, has been withheld pending conclusion of criminal proceedings by the National Crime Agency.
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