The Department of Health and Social Care has wasted a massive £15 billion worth of equipment.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) costing the equivalent of a 20% pay rise for all NHS workers has been wasted by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The government’s own watchdog has publically criticised around £15 billion worth of PPE, Covid-19 vaccines, and lateral flow tests being wasted by DHSC.
It comes after the government has consistently dubbed calls for a 19% pay rise for NHS nurses, predicted to cost around £10 billion, “unaffordable”.
Extraordinary waste.
The National Audit Office (NAO) discovered that a large amount of PPE, vaccines and lateral flow tests were not only brought for above market value but are now either lost, unfit for use or being wasted.
The figures include £5.8 billion in Covid testing supplies and £2.7 billion in vaccines.
Chair of the House of Commons public accounts committee Meg Hillier said financial reports revealed an “extraordinary waste” by the DHSC.
Ms Hiller concluded it was “another reminder to Whitehall about the vital importance of proper controls in public procurement, including during a crisis’.
A government spokesperson added: “It is misleading to say that £14.9bn of taxpayers’ money has been wasted. In the face of an unprecedented pandemic, we had to compete in an overheated global market to procure items to protect the public, frontline health and care workers and our NHS.”
Going up in smoke.
The Labour party has heavily criticised the government’s financial management. Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said in a statement, “The Conservatives can never again claim to be the careful stewards of the public finances.
“While Rishi Sunak had control of the purse strings, a staggering £15bn of public money was wasted on useless PPE – enough to fund the police force for an entire year.
“Instead, that money is now literally going up in smoke. Taxpayers will rightly judge the carelessness with which the Conservatives treat their money to be an absolute scandal.”
