NHS Covid supply bill hits £26m
A £26MILLION shopping list of life-saving medical equipment bought by NHS chiefs to cope with coronavirus in Scotland has been revealed.
The huge sum, which includes a £12million bill for ventilators, was paid to private healthcare companies as the health service battled to source vital supplies to deal with the crisis.
The raft of 22 emergency contracts were awarded to firms by National Services Scotland (NSS), which deals with procurement and logistics for the NHS in Scotland.
Details of the deals, which also include beds, monitors, pumps and other vital kit, were made public over the last two days - but the true cost of the equipment required to treat the country’s Covid-19 patients will be far higher.
Contracts published so far show the NSS bought ventilators from eight companies to ensure it had enough to cope with the pandemic, including one order of more than £6million to Draeger Medical UK of Hertfordshire.
In March, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said more than 1000 ventilators had been ordered as part of her plan to quadruple intensive care capacity from 190 beds to between 700 and 800.
Freeman admitted the delivery of the ventilators would be “staggered”, with some not arriving in until mid-summer.
About £43million was spent creating and kitting out the Louisa Jordan temporary hospital ahead of its opening in April.
It was not required but it’s hoped it could be repurposed to help deal with a backlog of procedures halted to deal with the pandemic.
An NSS spokeswoman said: “The new contracts are part of a programme of procurement designed to ensure our NHS in Scotland continues to have access to everything it needs to meet the challenges of Covid-19.”