Nearly £15bn wasted on Covid PPE, says UK spending watchdog

The UK health department was forced to write down £14.9bn worth of personal protective equipment and other medical items, according to a report by the independent public spending watchdog, which also issued a scathing criticism of the UK Health Security Agency.

The National Audit Office said that the Department for Health and Social Care did not complete an “effective programme of year-end stock counts” to assess the quality and quantity of coronavirus-related items, such as lateral flow tests.

During the last two financial years, the DHSC reported nearly £15bn of write down costs associated with PPE and other health items. The department estimated that the continuing cost of storage and disposal of excess and unusable equipment stands at £319mn.

The watchdog found a “lack of adequate governance, oversight and control” at the UKHSA. It noted that due to a “lack of sufficient, appropriate audit evidence and significant shortcomings in financial control” the NAO was unable to provide an audit opinion on the 2021-22 accounts of the agency.

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Source: Financial Times, 27 January 2023