LGA responds to Public Accounts Committee report on future PPE supply

8 Jul 2020 02:36 PM

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, responded to a Commons Public Accounts Committee report on NHS capital expenditure and financial management, including about securing the future supply of PPE for health and social care services in the event of a second wave of coronavirus 

“We have been calling for a clear long-term strategy for the sustainable supply of PPE to be published. Councils and social care providers need concrete assurances about ongoing supplies of quality PPE should the country experience a second wave of coronavirus.

“Staff working in care homes and working in people’s homes have been doing an incredible job in extremely challenging circumstances. They deserve to know that they will have the equipment, resources and support they need to continue doing so to ensure their safety and those they are caring for, at all times.

“Social care services are still operating under the guidance for sustained transmission of COVID-19 in the community, with staff continuing to use PPE at the same level and rate as early on in the pandemic.

“As the report states, we need urgent clarity over the governance and distribution of PPE, so that this vital protective equipment reaches where it is needed as soon as possible.

“We must be as prepared as possible if we are to continue supporting those who use and work in social care, while reducing the impact of this devastating disease.”

Committee demands detailed plan for PPE from DHSC within 2 months, ahead of potential second Covid wave