Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ventilators purchased by his Department since 2020 have been found unsuitable for use.
Answered by Edward Argar
Since 2020, the Department purchased approximately 47,000 ventilators of all types in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these, approximately 1,500 or 3.2% of purchases have been found to be unfit for use in the National Health Service following clinical and medical engineering testing and evaluation. Approximately 5,000 Philips Respironics Bipap ventilators are currently awaiting repair by the manufacturer following a general product safety recall.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has paid to Excalibur Healthcare for the purchase of personal protective equipment; and whether that company has met its contractual obligations for providing adequate personal protective equipment under the contractual terms set by his Department.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department paid £25,135,000 to Excalibur Healthcare for the purchase of personal protective equipment. However, we are unable to provide the information requested on contractual obligations as this commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential (a) units and (b) purchased cost of personal protective equipment which the Department plans to incinerate in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar
A specific estimate has not yet been made. The Department has appointed two providers to assess the most cost efficient and environmentally sustainable options for the disposal of personal protective equipment. Where possible we aim to recycle items before considering incineration.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the condition of personal protective equipment in storage as of 18 February 2022.
Answered by Edward Argar
The quality assurance of personal protective equipment (PPE) is ongoing. As of 28 February 2022, the latest available information shows that 34.5 billion items have been received and 18 billion items have been distributed to the frontline. The following table shows categorisation of PPE items by quantity and proportion as of 28 February.
Category | Quantity | Percentage |
Stock cleared for release | 11.0 billion | 66.9% |
Assessment in progress or not started | 1.4 billion | 8.7% |
Exit stock (all items not currently suitable for provision to health and social care, for any reason) | 4.0 billion | 24.4% |
Of which: | ||
New buy product on hold for stock management purposes | 1.2 billion | 7.0% |
Temporary hold – investigating regulatory issues. | 357 million | 2.2% |
Potential use in other settings | 1.2 billion | 7.2% |
Wastage (not fit for any use) | 1.1 billion | 6.9% |
Total quantity | 16.4 billion | 100% |
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many units of personal protective equipment are in storage in shipping containers; and what the cost is to the public purse of that storage.
Answered by Edward Argar
As of 14 February 2022, 5.5 billion items of personal protective equipment (PPE) are being held in container storage. The Department does not store PPE in containers at ports. Storage costs for containers in that week were £249,000 per day.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to work with the devolved Administrations to ensure consistency in how third and booster covid-19 doses are displayed on NHS Covid Passes across the UK while they remain essential for admission to many other countries.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We continue to ensure agreement between the devolved administrations to maintain consistency in the designs of the digital and non-digital NHS Covid Pass which meet international standards and domestic requirements. This includes working with the Welsh Government, as the digital service through NHS.UK is provided by England to Wales. There is United Kingdom-wide alignment on the display of third doses in the NHS COVID Pass.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what safeguards his Department has put in place in respect of the awarding of contracts for personal protective equipment to avoid (a) groups of companies coordinating their bids and (b) applications from multiple companies with the same directors.
Answered by Edward Argar
Regulation 24 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 requires contracting authorities to take appropriate measures to effectively prevent, identify and remedy conflicts of interest arising in the conduct of procurement procedures. The Department has robust rules and processes in place to ensure that conflicts of interest do not occur, including declaration from suppliers, publication of Ministerial interests and Departmental guidance. All potential conflicts of interest must be declared by suppliers upon registering as a new supplier with the Department.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the consultation between his Department and NHS England on combining the costs for the two hormone replacement therapies, oestrogen and progesterone, into one prescription; and when that policy will be introduced.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Officials have regular discussions with NHS England and NHS Improvement on a range of issues, including whether the cost of two hormone products can be combined into one prescription charge. Work is currently focused on reducing the cost of hormone replacement therapy for all patients.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any Government department has taken steps to investigate why payments made to Unispace Global Ltd were not reported by that company in its financial accounts; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department paid £603 million to Unispace Global Ltd for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) in 2020. Unispace Global Ltd partially met its contractual obligations, supplying the National Health Service with £484 million items of PPE from April 2020 till December 2021. We are working with the company on a commercial resolution for the remainder of the contract. Issues concerning the accuracy of filed financial accounts are a matter for Companies House.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Unispace Global Ltd met its contractual obligations for providing adequate personal protective equipment under the contractual terms set by his Department in 2020.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department paid £603 million to Unispace Global Ltd for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) in 2020. Unispace Global Ltd partially met its contractual obligations, supplying the National Health Service with £484 million items of PPE from April 2020 till December 2021. We are working with the company on a commercial resolution for the remainder of the contract. Issues concerning the accuracy of filed financial accounts are a matter for Companies House.