For several billion pounds
Brits buy useless corona protective equipment
2/1/2022, 6:27 p.m
Expired, not up to its own standards or even “completely unusable”: In the corona pandemic, the British government is apparently making massive bad purchases. Spending on unnecessary corona protective equipment runs into the billions. The Ministry of Health justifies itself.
The British government has apparently paid several billion pounds for overly expensive or unnecessary corona protective equipment. The Department of Health has written off a total of £8.7 billion – more than €10 billion – the PA news agency reported, citing accounts.
For example, £673m was paid for “completely unusable” equipment and £750m for items not used before their sell-by date. Almost £2.6 billion has been spent on items “unsuitable for NHS use”. However, the ministry hopes to be able to sell or donate these items.
Finally, the value of the remaining stocks collapsed by 4.7 billion pounds. The reason is that the prices for protective equipment have fallen sharply since the beginning of the pandemic.
The government comptroller acknowledged the ministry was under “extraordinary pressure” because of the pandemic. However, the authority was not able to “adequately manage increased risks, which led to significant losses for the taxpayer”. The opposition criticized the government as “incompetent”.