The Covid inquiry has concluded that the National Health Service faced significant shortages of personal protective equipment during the pandemic, creating health risks for staff and patients, while the government squandered substantial public funds on procurement efforts.
Barbones Hallett, the inquiry chair, identified £9.9 billion in wasteful spending on PPE out of the £14.9 billion the government allocated to these supplies. The waste extended beyond protective equipment, with total government spending on related health supplies between January 2020 and June 2022 exceeding £42 billion when testing kits and ventilators were included. The inquiry concluded that the UK entered the pandemic with depleted stockpiles of masks, gowns and gloves that were inadequately prepared for global supply competition. The emergency stockpile, designed to sustain operations for at least 15 weeks, became depleted by the end of March 2020 as hospital demand surged. In England, only one-third of stockpiled masks remained usable, while Scotland held no supplies of high-grade respiratory masks needed in hospital settings.
A controversial “VIP lane” prioritization system, which expedited PPE contract awards for suppliers with political connections, was criticized by the inquiry as undermining fairness during emergency procurement. Baroness Hallett characterized the policy as misguided and recommended against its repetition, though she found no evidence of corruption or cronyism among ministers and officials in final contract decisions. Additional concerns included care homes, GP surgeries and pharmacies being required to source their own equipment—described as a major planning failure.
The government wrote off £9.9 billion in unused or expired PPE and £157 million in unused healthcare equipment. Scotland recorded £8 million in writeoffs, Wales £18 million, and Northern Ireland £43 million in masks and gowns at risk of expiration. A “ventilator challenge” program designed to rapidly develop breathing equipment resulted in £143 million in charges for designs never manufactured.
The inquiry recommended comprehensive system overhauls for emergency procurement and distribution, development of a domestic healthcare equipment industry strategy, and improvements to the national stockpile housed in Merseyside. The government stated it would consider the recommendations carefully.
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