Recent reports of British companies having ship their PPE abroad
highlight two important facts about our response to COVID-19 in this critical
time: 1) That we in fact have a good supply of PPE here in the UK despite
accusations of the contrary, and 2) despite the best efforts of the UK
government in running a military-sized operation in delivering PPE to
everywhere that needs it, not all businesses have been selected to supply PPE.
There are many possible reasons to a business's PPE supply
application being rejected or turned down: It could be that the PPE they supply
simply do not meet the standards we have and are therefore inadequate, or are
of such poor quality that they are simply defenseless against COVID-19; it
could be that another supplier is able to put forward a more competitive
offer or provide a quicker delivery time of the PPE than what the business
is putting forward; it could even be that we are actually well stocked up
on the particular kind of PPE that the business is offering, as there are a
variety of different PPE items required and different providers will be more
well stocked up on different types of PPE and less so on other types.
What I do know, as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Matt
Hancock, is that the Department for Health and Social Care is being
inundated with offers of PPE on a regular basis, and are working hard 24/7 to
process them as quickly as possible.
But as with any procurement process invariably some businesses
will not be selected. It would be wrong to expect every single business and
person that steps forward with a PPE offer to be accepted as an
approved supplier.
COVID-19 is an international challenge some British businesses for
one reason or another have decide to divert their supply of PPE to other countries.
This is ultimately their decision and one that MPs have little control over.
I also want to make clear that here in Cornwall we have secured a
sustainable supply of PPE for our NHS doctors and nurses. I am well aware of
the PPE challenges facing a small number of care home providers and my team and
I are working very hard to get them the PPE they need.
The Government is not
underestimating the size of this challenge, but the Prime Minister has said he
will do everything in his power to keep healthcare workers safe as they care
for the rest of society. We know there is more to do in this area, and the full
weight of the Government is working to deliver that as quickly as possible.
As General Sir Nick Carter, the
Chief of Defence Staff, made clear during the government news conference on 22
April:
"First and foremost this has
been a logistic task and I would say that I think in all of my more than 40
years of service this is the single greatest logistic challenge that I have
come across."
In dealing with this unprecedented
challenge, what everyone must recognise is that our NHS – like any health
service around the world – only has a limited number of doctors, nurses, and
specialist equipment. This means it can only deal with so many sick people at
once.
The more people that get sick with
Coronavirus at any one time the harder it is for the NHS to cope – meaning more
people are likely to die from the Coronavirus, as well as other serious
illnesses. Therefore, if we can slow the spread of Coronavirus so fewer people
are sick at any one time, we can protect the NHS’s ability to cope.
That’s why, in addition to
improving the capacity of the NHS, the Government is asking everyone to stay at
home and stay safe. It is simply the best weapon we have to slow the spread of
the virus. That way we can protect the NHS and save lives.
Thank you again for taking the time to write to me.
