The Good Law Project puts the cost at unusable PPE at £9.9 billion.
The amount of money wasted on unusable personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic was enough to double the salary of every NHS nurse for a year, the Good Law Project has found.
According to figures published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) £2,581 million was spent on PPE “not suitable for use in the NHS”, £673 million on PPE “not suitable for any use”, and £750 million on buying PPE which passed its expiry date before use.
This comes on top of a staggering £4.7 billion spent on inflated pandemic prices for PPE that wasn’t needed at all and a massive £1.231 bill for PPE that is still yet to even be delivered.
The Good Law Project puts the total combined cost at around £9.9 billion – enough to double the salary of every NHS nurse.
It comes after NHS workers were provided with “repurposed bin bags” to be used as protective gowns and NHS workers were subjected to another sub-inflation pay rise.
A huge waste of money.
Responding to the news, Nurses United UK lead organiser Anthony Johnson said the money would have been better spent investing in the workforce.
“Throughout this pandemic, we have seen the wrong decisions made time and again. We all know this Government failed to get the PPE we needed.
“Running around like headless chickens and giving contracts to your mates, for billions of pounds worth of equipment we will never use, is not the answer.”
“We are desperate for nurses. We have been for decades. A restorative 15% pay rise to bring our NHS back to safety will help solve that. It is time this Government made the right decision for once.”
A DHSC spokesperson defended the costs, saying; “The supply of these vital items helped keep our NHS open at a moment of national crisis to deliver a world-class service to the public. We are seeking to recover costs from suppliers wherever possible.”
