PPE scandal mounts as millions of goggles are still unused
TENS OF millions of safety goggles ordered at a cost of £178million at the height of the pandemic could go to waste, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
A deal for 90 million pairs of goggles was struck with Worldlink, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, in June 2020 following a referral from former Minister Lord Agnew, who resigned last month in protest at the Government’s failure to tackle Covid fraud.
But according to an official document released under Freedom of Information rules, only 1.3 per cent of the goggles have so far been sent to NHS and social care workers.
The revelation follows the disclosure in the Department of Health’s annual report that it incurred £8.7billion worth of losses on £12.1billion worth of PPE, driven in the main by defective equipment, excess purchases and inflated prices.
Worldlink was the eighth largest supplier of PPE between
‘Our priority has always been saving lives’
March and July 2020 after landing two government contracts worth £258 million, including one contract for nine million gowns.
It was one of 40 companies that was given a place on the Government’s controversial VIP high priority lane for suppliers.
Last night, a Department for Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘Our absolute priority throughout this unprecedented global pandemic has always been saving lives.
‘At its height, we acted swiftly in a highly competitive global market to secure sufficient PPE to address potential worst case scenarios.’
A spokesman for the non-profit Good Law Project, which obtained the document, said: ‘The way we procured PPE, including the illegal VIP lane, meant that of every £13 Government spent, £10 was wasted – £10 billion in total.
‘How long must hard-pressed, hard-working taxpayers carry the heavy burden of waste and sleaze?’
Lord Agnew could not be reached for comment.