Government has made ‘alarming’ lack of planning for future pandemics, MPs warn

Billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money was wasted on unusable personal protective equipment (PPE) – and there’s an ‘alarming’ lack of stockpile planning in case of future pandemics.

The dire warning comes from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), whose report also criticised the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for ‘completely staggering’ accounting failings.

Those failings mean £3.3 billion in NHS Test and Trace inventory couldn’t be identified by proper financial records.

The government has ‘written off’ £14.9 billion of inventory in the last two years – nearly £10 billion of this was unusable or unneeded PPE, Covid medicines and vaccines.

The department still pays large amounts to store and dispose of the kit, and it’s estimated this will cost £319 million over the next few years.

It’s also not possible to do a stocktake of existing PPE, the report found, as it would cost £70 million to move and open inaccessible storage containers.

The report warns healthcare workers could be exposed to PPE shortages in future as there isn’t a clear plan for a national emergency stockpile.

PAC chair Dame Meg Hillier said: ‘The UKHSA was set up with great fanfare in 2021, and rightly so given the significance of its role in leading protection against threats to our nation’s health.

‘It is completely staggering, then, that an organisation envisaged as a foundation stone of our collective security was established with a leadership hamstrung by a lack of formal governance, and financial controls so poor that billions of pounds in NHS Test and Trace inventory can no longer be properly accounted for.

‘It is greatly alarming that there is no clear plan from the government for an emergency stockpile of vaccines, medicines and PPE.

‘Three years after the start of the pandemic, the government still has no proper controls over the PPE stocks it already has.

‘This could leave front-line workers exposed in the future to shortages similar to those faced in 2020.

‘For the government not to make serious preparations for any future pandemic would be utterly inexcusable.’

UKHSA was set up to replace Public Health England in 2021, but the committee found it had ‘financial controls so poor’ it was ‘unable to prepare auditable accounts’.

The report also criticised the appointment of Dame Jenny Harries as its chief executive, as they say she had ‘no previous technical experience in elements of running a complex organisation’, leading to ‘inadequate scrutiny’.

A government spokesperson said: ‘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.

‘We were the first country in the world to deploy an approved Covid vaccine, with 144 million doses administered, and we have delivered over 25 billion items of PPE to the front line.

‘Buying vital Covid vaccines and medicines saved countless lives and kept NHS and care staff safe.’

Dame Jenny said: ‘We have always taken our accounts and financial controls very seriously.

‘The UKHSA was created in unprecedented circumstances when tackling Covid was our first priority, and we inherited significant pre-existing accounts challenges.

‘We have already instituted strong governance arrangements in a hugely complex organisation at the earliest opportunity.

‘This progress means our organisation is now substantially different in terms of stability, governance and financial controls.

‘We are working with DHSC to ensure the robustness of our accounts is recognised both now and for the future.

‘Despite these inherited financial challenges, the UKHSA continues to fulfil its priority remit – to protect lives.’

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