Report on PPE supply during COVID-19 pandemic
The National Audit Office (NAO) has investigated the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the Covid-19 pandemic. Key findings include:
- 14% - The number of PPE items distributed to social care providers as a percentage of all PPE items nationally distributed, between 20 March and 31 July 2020.
- 10% - the number of PPE items distributed to social care providers through national schemes as a percentage of their estimated PPE requirement, between 20 March and 31 July 2020. By comparison, trusts received 80% of their estimated requirement.
The NAO concludes the social care sector was hit hard by shortages of PPE, and government needs to understand why national bodies provided more support to hospitals than to social care and how to prevent that happening again.
