Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to resolve the reported disruption to deliveries of personal protective equipment to the UK; and by what date they expect such disruptions to have been resolved.

The Government has brought together the National Health Service, industry and the armed forces to create a personal protective equipment (PPE) distribution network, delivering critical PPE supplies to those who need it.

We are doing everything we can on every front on the international procurement of medical supplies. There is a joint unit within the Department for International Trade and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that uses our extensive overseas networks and United Kingdom-based expertise to coordinate international procurement of medical and other critical supplies.

There is a 24-hour helpline that allows National Health Service and social care providers to request emergency drops of PPE to meet immediate need.