Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 24 January (HL1768), how many of each of the categories of equipment contained in that answer (1) are being offered or have been offered for sale in the period up to 31 March, (2) have been destroyed, (3) are scheduled for destruction, and (4) have been donated, or will be donated, to medical charities for use overseas, including but not confined to Ukraine.

The COVID Strategic ICU Reserve was set up in April 2020, in response to shortages in key respiratory equipment and in anticipation of increased demand during the pandemic. Over the last two years, the National Health Service has not needed to access the reserve to manage increases in the numbers of respiratory patients. With lack of demand from the NHS, and increasing costs associated with storing and maintaining ageing equipment, the decision was taken to close the reserve by March 2024.

Information on the money raised from the auction of equipment is not currently available. The following table shows the planned disposal routes for equipment within the COVID Strategic Intensive Care Unit Reserve from 1 December 2023 to 31 March 2024:

Notes:

1. The table does not include equipment that has been deployed to the NHS across the United Kingdom since December 2023, and so the sum of the disposal columns will not equal the December 2023 holdings. Information reflects plans as of 5 February 2024.
2. Until the final closure of the reserve in March 2024, we will continue to respond to requests from the NHS and overseas meaning these plans are subject to change.