PPI failures left NHS staff poorly protected and wasted billions, Covid inquiry finds

Planning failures and other shortcomings meant doctors and nurses were forced to work without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) during the outbreak, the Covid inquiry has revealed.

The inquiry’s fifth report found that healthcare workers were failing to properly protect themselves or those in their care from dangerous infections.

The UK has stepped into the pandemic with masks, gowns and gloves in “endangered condition” in a global race to find new supplies.

Almost two-thirds of the £14.9bn the government spent on PPE – almost £10bn – was wasted, the report concluded.

Baroness Hallett, chair of the inquiry, described the waste of taxpayers’ money as “colossal” and said over-reliance on China for equipment had left the UK “vulnerable”.

The study found that the total amount spent by the government between January 2020 and June 2022 was more than £42bn, including the cost of home testing kits and other items such as ventilators.

The UK’s stockpile of emergency PPE will last at least 15 weeks before it runs out and was running out at the end of March 2020 due to increasing demand from hospitals.