£1.4bn of Covid PPE Destroyed
Discussion
£1.4bn of PPE (approx 1.57bn item) supplied as part of the response to Covid will never be used and will be destroyed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cll476qzm85o
Surely some use, even if not medical, or reycling could be found for it?
I doubt anyone in Government or the NHS will be held accountable for such a waste of money & equipment.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cll476qzm85o
Surely some use, even if not medical, or reycling could be found for it?
I doubt anyone in Government or the NHS will be held accountable for such a waste of money & equipment.
PPE has a shelf life.
Demand during Covid was through the roof and the Government was highly criticised for not getting enough (other parties claiming that would have done more, and sooner).
Now the demand has gone and that PPE is just sitting around costing money to store. Now the criticism is they shouldn't have bough it in the first place with other parties saying it wouldn't have happened under them.
Of course this ignores that PPE is normally procured by the NHS not government, so any failing either way should be on them.
Demand during Covid was through the roof and the Government was highly criticised for not getting enough (other parties claiming that would have done more, and sooner).
Now the demand has gone and that PPE is just sitting around costing money to store. Now the criticism is they shouldn't have bough it in the first place with other parties saying it wouldn't have happened under them.
Of course this ignores that PPE is normally procured by the NHS not government, so any failing either way should be on them.
ChocolateFrog said:
Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
Sounds like a husband and wife team. Hope the rest of the employees got a nice bonus out of it.
Article going to great lengths not to criticise the owners whilst at the same time writing a lot about them. Idiots.Sounds like a husband and wife team. Hope the rest of the employees got a nice bonus out of it.
Most media types and politicians were/would have been screaming about shortages of PPE. The fact a surplus was ordered (and 4 years on has to be disposed of) shouldn't be an issue. The procurement is an entirely separate issue IMO.
Anyway what's another billion pounds in the context of the hundreds of billions spent during the pandemic....
Anyway what's another billion pounds in the context of the hundreds of billions spent during the pandemic....
Was always likely to happen.
And if we don't want knee jerk reactions to the next one, we're going to be spending a lot on PPE every year that ultimately never gets used before it's destroyed.
That may or may not be a better approach than leaving it to the last minute and putting rushed contracts in place. But I doubt anyone will take the time to work that through. Least of all Wes Streeting (who I generally think is OK) - where were Labour calling out all of this at the time, rather than simply saying we should be doing more....
And if we don't want knee jerk reactions to the next one, we're going to be spending a lot on PPE every year that ultimately never gets used before it's destroyed.
That may or may not be a better approach than leaving it to the last minute and putting rushed contracts in place. But I doubt anyone will take the time to work that through. Least of all Wes Streeting (who I generally think is OK) - where were Labour calling out all of this at the time, rather than simply saying we should be doing more....
LivLL said:
Interesting story to "emerge" on the BBC a week before the election.
That’s an odd angle to take from story that is in the public interest, should we have news blackouts in the lead up to elections? There’s no suggestion, for once, of any governmental impropriety, just more mismanagement and wastefulness on the part of the government and NHS. Apparently the money spunked could’ve paid the salaries of 37000 nurses, or probably have gone a long way towards avoiding the junior doctor’s strike.
Doesnt seem like the manufacturing company did anything wrong, they were contracted to fulfil and order, and from reading teh article teh order was delivered and met all required standards.
Issue seems to piss poor stock control / panic buying / failings in the distribution network to get the product out to where it was needed which falls to the Gov and NHS.
Issue seems to piss poor stock control / panic buying / failings in the distribution network to get the product out to where it was needed which falls to the Gov and NHS.
This is always a risk with any response to a crisis.
I am no fan of the current government or of the covid response but they would have been lambasted for:
-Not having enough PPE.
-Wasting PPE.
-Getting PPE from China.
-Waiting until a UK supplier could get production running when it was cheaper & quicker from China.
-Making a private company millions.
-Not engaging the private sector for ideological reasons.
It’s just noise. If anyone thinks any other party would have done any better you are deluded.
I am no fan of the current government or of the covid response but they would have been lambasted for:
-Not having enough PPE.
-Wasting PPE.
-Getting PPE from China.
-Waiting until a UK supplier could get production running when it was cheaper & quicker from China.
-Making a private company millions.
-Not engaging the private sector for ideological reasons.
It’s just noise. If anyone thinks any other party would have done any better you are deluded.
Stick Legs said:
This is always a risk with any response to a crisis.
I am no fan of the current government or of the covid response but they would have been lambasted for:
-Not having enough PPE.
-Wasting PPE.
-Getting PPE from China.
-Waiting until a UK supplier could get production running when it was cheaper & quicker from China.
-Making a private company millions.
-Not engaging the private sector for ideological reasons.
It’s just noise. If anyone thinks any other party would have done any better you are deluded.
agree, they would be getting beaten whatever way they went, and it was an "unprecedented incident"I am no fan of the current government or of the covid response but they would have been lambasted for:
-Not having enough PPE.
-Wasting PPE.
-Getting PPE from China.
-Waiting until a UK supplier could get production running when it was cheaper & quicker from China.
-Making a private company millions.
-Not engaging the private sector for ideological reasons.
It’s just noise. If anyone thinks any other party would have done any better you are deluded.
Stick Legs said:
This is always a risk with any response to a crisis.
I am no fan of the current government or of the covid response but they would have been lambasted for:
-Not having enough PPE.
-Wasting PPE.
-Getting PPE from China.
-Waiting until a UK supplier could get production running when it was cheaper & quicker from China.
-Making a private company millions.
-Not engaging the private sector for ideological reasons.
It’s just noise. If anyone thinks any other party would have done any better you are deluded.
Exactly this. 20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing.I am no fan of the current government or of the covid response but they would have been lambasted for:
-Not having enough PPE.
-Wasting PPE.
-Getting PPE from China.
-Waiting until a UK supplier could get production running when it was cheaper & quicker from China.
-Making a private company millions.
-Not engaging the private sector for ideological reasons.
It’s just noise. If anyone thinks any other party would have done any better you are deluded.
gazapc said:
Most media types and politicians were/would have been screaming about shortages of PPE. The fact a surplus was ordered (and 4 years on has to be disposed of) shouldn't be an issue. The procurement is an entirely separate issue IMO.
Anyway what's another billion pounds in the context of the hundreds of billions spent during the pandemic....
They were Anyway what's another billion pounds in the context of the hundreds of billions spent during the pandemic....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/24/doct...
Damned if you do, damned if you don't
Puddenchucker said:
£1.4bn of PPE (approx 1.57bn item) supplied as part of the response to Covid will never be used and will be destroyed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cll476qzm85o
Surely some use, even if not medical, or reycling could be found for it?
I doubt anyone in Government or the NHS will be held accountable for such a waste of money & equipment.
I think one of the issues is the cost of recycling- face-shields for example have foam head pieces with different plastics attached. It requires manual labour to break them into component parts which increases the cost. That’s why a lot gets incinerated / turned into fuel for cement factories etc as there’s such an additional cost associated with recycling. Likewise the longer it takes to dispose of the product the more the storage costs are. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cll476qzm85o
Surely some use, even if not medical, or reycling could be found for it?
I doubt anyone in Government or the NHS will be held accountable for such a waste of money & equipment.
I understand one of the issues is there was bugger all stock control so nobody knows the expiry dates of product until they open a container thereby increasing the likelihood of waste.
Leithen said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
Sounds like a husband and wife team. Hope the rest of the employees got a nice bonus out of it.
Article going to great lengths not to criticise the owners whilst at the same time writing a lot about them. Idiots.Sounds like a husband and wife team. Hope the rest of the employees got a nice bonus out of it.
Just the rampant profiteering.
Madness.
The government should have been producing this PPE not going to tiny companies to fulfil Bn £ POs.
No wonder they bought a £30M villa in barbados.
I would have done the same thing!!!
The issue is not the people running the company but that the government were just throwing money around in panic mode. Over ordering on the scales they did was insanity. The other issue is the cost to destroy all this stuff, £100m. Another company made millions off the back of getting rid of it all.
I do wonder about the UK these days.
The government should have been producing this PPE not going to tiny companies to fulfil Bn £ POs.
No wonder they bought a £30M villa in barbados.
I would have done the same thing!!!
The issue is not the people running the company but that the government were just throwing money around in panic mode. Over ordering on the scales they did was insanity. The other issue is the cost to destroy all this stuff, £100m. Another company made millions off the back of getting rid of it all.
I do wonder about the UK these days.
Blue62 said:
LivLL said:
Interesting story to "emerge" on the BBC a week before the election.
That’s an odd angle to take from story that is in the public interest, should we have news blackouts in the lead up to elections? There’s no suggestion, for once, of any governmental impropriety, just more mismanagement and wastefulness on the part of the government and NHS. Apparently the money spunked could’ve paid the salaries of 37000 nurses, or probably have gone a long way towards avoiding the junior doctor’s strike.
But there's no money for that.
It's genuinely really sad.
gotoPzero said:
Madness.
The government should have been producing this PPE not going to tiny companies to fulfil Bn £ POs.
No wonder they bought a £30M villa in barbados.
I would have done the same thing!!!
The issue is not the people running the company but that the government were just throwing money around in panic mode. Over ordering on the scales they did was insanity. The other issue is the cost to destroy all this stuff, £100m. Another company made millions off the back of getting rid of it all.
I do wonder about the UK these days.
How would the government start and ramp up production in a matter of weeks? The government should have been producing this PPE not going to tiny companies to fulfil Bn £ POs.
No wonder they bought a £30M villa in barbados.
I would have done the same thing!!!
The issue is not the people running the company but that the government were just throwing money around in panic mode. Over ordering on the scales they did was insanity. The other issue is the cost to destroy all this stuff, £100m. Another company made millions off the back of getting rid of it all.
I do wonder about the UK these days.
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