Coronavirus: UK failed to stockpile crucial PPE

[Northerner]

The government failed to buy crucial protective equipment to cope with a pandemic, a BBC investigation has found.

There were no gowns, visors, swabs or body bags in the government's pandemic stockpile when Covid-19 reached the UK.

NHS staff say they are being put at risk because of the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

The government said it has taken the right steps and is doing everything it can to increase stocks.

The investigation by BBC Panorama found that vital items were left out of the stockpile when it was set up in 2009 and that the government subsequently ignored a warning from its own advisers to buy missing equipment.

Coronavirus: UK failed to stockpile crucial PPE

Failures in the preparation for the coronavirus pandemic are revealed by a BBC investigation.

www.bbc.co.uk

I watched this programme last night and was utterly appalled I know it's a big ask, but in times like this at least the government could be honest about the mistakes that they have made instead of just trying to give the impression that everything is hunky dory - it must be particularly galling for healthcare workers to listen to those excuses and platitudes when they are first-hand witnesses - and often victims - to the failures in planning

 

[Docb]

Don't forget Northerner, governments are not in the enlightenment business, they are in the how do I get elected next time round business. Also, media companies are not in the enlightenment business, they are in the how do I get more attention business.

Anyway, the families of NHS workers who die from corona will get a £60k payout so it is OK. There are times when I despair about what is going on.

Having a bit of a cynical morning - must be the three mile walk.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

The large number of missing N95 masks seems like it has a story behind it. I hope somebody finds out what happened with those.

 

[Ljc]

I am afraid I have a very poor opinion of many politicians.
Putting it politely, not being able to organise a party in a brewery spring mind.

 

[Ljc]

I feel so sorry and appalled for all the essential workers who are now putting themselves at risk because of such poor planning.

 

[Northerner]

Don't forget Northerner, governments are not in the enlightenment business, they are in the how do I get elected next time round business. Also, media companies are not in the enlightenment business, they are in the how do I get more attention business.

'The truth will out' 🙂 I have no problems with the media raising legitimate concerns 🙂

 

[Eddy Edson]

My hobby horse: Don't let the medical advisors off the hook for this. Seen any mea culpas from Chris Whitty et al?

They should have known & they should have done something about it, or raised a public fuss if blocked by the politicians. Everywhere has been well alerted to pandemic risks for many years. Pointing at other countries whose public health systems also made inadequate preparations doesn't cut it.

 

[mikeyB]

And all the while, the regular suppliers of PPE equipment are sending supplies abroad, because the government won’t deal with them, despite them telling they can supply enough for every hospital and care worker.

What is happening is corporate manslaughter. Though as it is a deliberate act, a murder charge might be more appropriate.

 

[trophywench]

We watched it. I'm still as speechless about it as I was before the end of the prog. Just gobsmacked.
















Let's form a committee and hold an enquiry .......

 

[Eddy Edson]

Guardian on Gove just now: Pollies vs science advisors coming up on the fight card.

Asked by Wishart to acknowledge that the government had not stockpiled enough in advance, Gove said:

The stockpile that we had before this pandemic was explicitly designed in accordance with the advice from the scientific advisers the government has - Nervtag (the new and emerging respiratory virus threats advisory group) - and of course it was specifically for a flu pandemic.
The nature of coronavirus is different from a flu pandemic as we all know and we, like every government across the world, have had to respond to this new virus by assuring not just with personal protective equipment, but in every respect, that we are in a position to retool, refit and to upgrade our response.

This exchange can be viewed as an early dry run for the debate that is going to be central to what is now seen as the inevitable public inquiry that will take place into how the government handled the pandemic.

 

[Hardy]

I know, it is so appalling. I really hope people are held to account.

 

[trophywench]

O great - let's chop the heads off every single person that's been an MP between the dates of X to Y, plus do the same for the Civil Servants.

No ONE person IS responsible, it's a deep seated mindset problem dating back to, well, to about 1949, ish.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

No ONE person IS responsible, it's a deep seated mindset problem dating back to, well, to about 1949, ish.

I tend to agree about the general stockpiling and things, though they really should have acted a bit earlier when they knew it was spreading (so late February, early March).

It seems like it's fine to spend billions each year on defence (in particular defence against terrorism, right now) but spending on protection against infectious diseases wasn't so easy to sell politically. (Though if they'd released this secret Cygnus report maybe it would have been, and I can't help feeling if they spent half the effort selling protections against more natural risks that they spend selling more dubious anti-terrorism measures they might get more credit for spending on them.)

(Also, we'd get lots of benefit from adequately funded NHS, PHE, and especially local authority public health groups, and those would give us benefit all the time, including during terrorist attacks.)

 

[mikeyB]

O great - let's chop the heads off every single person that's been an MP between the dates of X to Y, plus do the same for the Civil Servants.

No ONE person IS responsible, it's a deep seated mindset problem dating back to, well, to about 1949, ish.

No it isn’t TW. It’s a result of the 2010 general election, since when the Tories have chopped away NHS funding, and have since ignored the report from a ‘dry run’ pandemic test that demonstrated clearly that we weren’t prepared, and far from it. They have yet to explain that, and only a public inquiry will expose this government for what they haven’t done, and when.

Many Asian countries were ready and waiting, because of their experience of the SARS epidemic, stopping it from becoming a
pandenicNow, we are rapidly becoming the worst country in Europe for CV deaths, and no amount of government spin can disguise that, and they will never apologise or explain why this is the case, even though they know full well what it is. Ineptitude and hubris.

And don’t involve the Civil Service. They just do the government’s bidding, like it or not. I know, I was a Civil Servant, and I’m still bound by the Official Secrets Act till the day I pop my socks.

 

[nonethewiser]

Failings of government fast coming to light, disgraceful lessons not learned from Exercise Cygnus.

Yesterday morning Piers was tearing into senior government minister who knew nowt about it, tried to wiggle out of things & pretend she did know but forget name of exercise, when pressed by Morgan to explain conclusion of report she couldn't name one thing.

Had lessons been learnt death rate would be no where near what it is now, feel deeply sorry for all but specially the HCP on frontline, the 60k offer of compensation to families is insult to deceased.

 

[trophywench]

I know, I was a Civil Servant, and I’m still bound by the Official Secrets Act till the day I pop my socks.

Ditto, so I can't tell ever anyone whatever about the bigamist I discovered running a pub, can I ? LOL

Ah, yes, apologies. Labour prior to that had brought in reforms, which were certainly needed*; it shook the NHS up and there was resistance to begin with, however they'd come round to liking it and the employees we by now singing from a similar hymnsheet when WHAM, the rug was pulled out from under their feet. (Bit like Trumper undoing Obama-care. You know the ethos - Cancel it and while we're about it, make sure we make it worse than it was before ..... Kudos to us for achieving a monetary advantage! cos everyone knows, human ones are never appreciated ….)

*Can't remember dates but it was when Hospital Trusts first had to arrange their own insurance cover, hence why I was involved, working for one of the major UK brokers. One of the US/Canadian insurers who already had a small presence in the UK, since in common with eg Factory Mutual, they already insured a number of home companies which they insured, who also had a presence on other countries including the UK and therefore to legally insure those here, were already represented by being registered in the UK with a very small human presence - who had in common with most of 'us here' - had no idea whatever how to go about it all to begin with - hence they physically transplanted some people who had that expertise. The other helpful thing they did was to recruit senior nurses who were well medically qualified sufficiently to gain employment within the NHS for the purpose of gleaning inside info whilst carrying out normal NHS work. This was all done in the background. Even then some Trusts were run far more efficiently than others - and this applied to both the major 'Teaching' hospitals and throughout the NHS. Very very enlightening indeed at the time …. !

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I know, I was a Civil Servant, and I’m still bound by the Official Secrets Act till the day I pop my socks.

As a minor technicality, the Official Secrets Act covers everybody subject to UK law. (Not just those who have signed it; that act is largely a symbolic one. I suspect everyone asked to sign it is told this, but it was a long time ago when I signed it so I may have specifically asked.)

 

[Hardy]

I agree that no ONE person is responsible, but there has to be an in-depth review to ensure the UK is never unprepared (in the same way as now) again. A lot of issues were AVOIDABLE and people (whether that be a group or a political party or an individual, and historical ) do need to be accountable.

 

[Docb]

As a minor technicality, the Official Secrets Act covers everybody subject to UK law. (Not just those who have signed it; that act is largely a symbolic one. I suspect everyone asked to sign it is told this, but it was a long time ago when I signed it so I may have specifically asked.)

When I was personally vetted for clearance for access to secret and top secret (top trumps claim) information, I recall being shown an extract from the Official Secrets Act and asked to read it but not actually asked to sign anything. Might be different for plebs.

 

[Drummer]

Yes - you get a copy to read, but there is no need for you to sign it. I was told that there was no need, they can shoot you anyway. I think he expected me to laugh - I didn't.
I watched the Panorama program overnight and reflected that it was a typical SNAFU situation, but it has cost lives and caused untold anxiety and exasperation - to have a manufacturer in the UK working to ship the material for gowns over to the US whilst there was a desperate need here is crazy. No wonder there were so many deaths in care homes and care providers and their contacts - the NHS took all that was available through normal business channels and left them with nothing. More people are going to die, and the death toll will go on longer due to such utter failure to react to the situation.
Some people local to me are making PPE and taking it to wherever they can find someone to take it, refusing payment, because government has simply ignored every message sent, every attempt to make contact either rebuffed or disregarded.