Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2020 to Question 103473 on Coronavirus: Protective Clothing, how many eligible providers his Department defines as the (a) majority and (b) minority; if he will publish a timeframe for when all eligible providers will have their order limits on the PPE portal increased to meet all of their covid-19 PPE needs; and if he will make it his policy to reimburse the costs accrued to eligible providers as a result of those providers having to make alternative procurement arrangements in the event that adequate PPE is unavailable through that portal; and if he will make a statement.

The percentage of modelled demand that the Department is meeting through the current order limits on the personal protective equipment (PPE) portal is dependent on type and size of the customer. For the PPE items offered to primary care providers, the portal meets 100% of modelled demand. For adult social care providers, we are meeting 100% of modelled demand for residential care homes, and small and medium domiciliary care providers. We are currently working with the largest adult social providers to facilitate meeting 100% of their modelled demand, with this increase being phased over the next few weeks to ensure these large deliveries can be received. The Department keeps order limits under review based on the latest available public health guidance, COVID-19 demand modelling, analysis and provider feedback.