Agents say burning $4 billion worth of unused personal protective equipment (PPE) to generate electricity is a waste of public money and harming the planet.
The government said it “spent a lot of money” to buy PPE at sky-high prices in the first year of the pandemic.
There was also a contract with a manufacturer accused of modern slavery.
According to the PAC, the Department of Health and Social Welfare (DHSC) lost 75% of the £12 billion spent on PPE in the first year of the corovirus pandemic.
This includes £44bn that could not be used because they did not meet NHS standards.
Currently, DHSC contracts with two waste companies to dispose of 15,000 plates of equipment per month by combining recycling and burning for energy.
However, PAC wants to know the financial and management cost of carbon emissions.
PAC President Deme Meg Hillier said DHSC did little to “clean up” after wasting “a lot” of public money.
“The PPE procurement story is probably the most shameful episode in the UK government’s response to a pandemic,” he said.
“At the time of the pandemic, the lack of basic PPE put the lives of health and social workers and their families at risk.
In a desperate attempt to catch up, the government has spent huge amounts of money in a chaotic race to pay middlemen and sky-high obscene prices.
“This leaves behind a large public contract that is currently under investigation by the National Crime Agency or is being disputed over claims of modern day slavery in the supply chain.”
Demmeg said the failure of the crisis was compounded by a “series of inappropriate and unauthorized payments” made by clinical agents during the first 12 months of the pandemic.
“Despite the long-standing, clear and known risks of a pandemic, DHSC clearly has no control over this crisis, and the challenges facing DHSC today, from launching the NHS to preparing for the next big crisis, are enormous. “. he added she. ..
Pat Cullen, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), repeated her criticism of the PAC.
He said the PPE burning is a “frustrating” reminder that DHSC’s procurement approach can cost nurses their lives.
“This is the worst painful reminder of a pandemic: insufficient or useless PPE,” he said.
Sending out billions of pounds of smoke can be hard to fathom when the NHS and care services are struggling.
“If this money was spent more wisely and decent quality personal protective equipment was purchased early on, the nurse’s life would have been saved.
“It will be important in future hearings to really learn the lessons, identify the cause and clarify where the mistake was made so it doesn’t happen again.
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Source: Metro
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