We've got a massive shortage of ppe equipment

You can tell SuperTyke has never worked in Procurement.

 

I would also put Matt Hancock as one as well.

 

That would last a typical British hospital maybe a week to 10 days maximum (much less for the gloves) probably a lot less. There are 1250 hospitals in the UK. You probably need 3-4 million of some of these items, not a few thousand.

 

We're told the Turkish shipment includes c. 400,000 gowns, but to put that in context, that's between 3 and 4 days supply in the English NHS at current levels of C19 cases (god help that we don't have another surge). The mind boggles at the negligence that most have gone on in not re-purposing our own industry as you say.

 

We have no/little manufacturing base left in this country, a legacy from Thatcherism.
We can't just magic up factories to provide things now but we can make better use of the small capability we have left if we cut out the red tape and sanction orders immediately.

 

Mario we cant even pick fruit an veg as a nation, are the fooook are we supposed to mek ought were fooooked.

 

The usual uninformed comments from the usual uninformed. The sheer numbers of specific PPE items combined with the fact they are in high demand WORLDWIDE, Manufacturers in many countries are in lockdown with staff shortages and Logistics both domestically and International shipping are under severe train is hugely problematic. Flippant comments like "Surely it's not beyond our skillset to start making our own on an industrial scale to produce items" (that have to meet stringent requirements) are extremely naïve.

Whilst I am not saying mistakes have been made- they clearly have - I would point out the same accusations are being levelled at Government in Italy and in other countries where there are shortages of essential equipment like masks etc.

As I have said before, this situation is unprecedented, many countries including the UK were initially dismissive and massively underestimated the threat presented by the Pandemic (which wasn't even labelled as such by WHO until long after it was clear to the medical profession that that was exactly what it was.) The supply chain has been completely overwhelmed and there is a time lag before supply can catch up with demand.
Most of the comments benefit from hindsight and, again a complete lack of understanding of how large scale procurement work demonstrated by the OP comparing it to 'online shopping'.
The Who only declared Coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020 and it was not until MARCH 11 that they declared it a Pandemic. In terms of the scale and magnitude of what was required that is a very short time.
The big difference is that whilst the major UK opposition (particularly Keir Starmer) have responded to the WHO's appeal NOT to politicise the pandemic, unfortunately Some of the UK media and a number of posters on here are lambasting individuals and the Government at every opportunity which, even if all of the criticisms were justified (which I have already argued most are not) they achieve nothing positive. It is positivity i.e. what can we do now going forward that is needed. Recriminations and analysis of what could should have been done should come much later.

Rant over!

 

So your considered advice is keep quiet and don’t say anything whilst people are dying and front line staff not protected . Meanwhile in the real world staff at Pinderfields ICU are in Macro cash and carry looking for something to use as PPE , they got some hair caps . Hancock only a few days ago claimed the UK had all the PPE it needed and it was just a bit of a distribution problem , this morning they are making a big thing of a plane from Turkey arriving with tons of PPE . Now is not the time to keep quiet and say nowt because our lives depend on shameing this regime into action .........and some people still think Johnson and the cabinet of failures are capable of negotiating trade deals around the world in a ‘competitive’ environment JFC

 

82,000 cases now in Turkey, I doubt they'll be sending any more any time soon..

Thank goodness for countries like Turkey and Romania helping us out though by sending men and materials to provide PPE for us unable to buy it ourselves, and to pick our food we are incapable of picking ourselves. Embarrassment is not strong enough a word

 

.

Companies are in the process of changing production, but it takes time with tooling.

 

It does that's true but it shows that globalisation has its weaknesses and hopefully when all this is over it will realign our priorities and allow us to review just how self sufficient we really are.

 

Just said on BBC the flight with ppe from Turkey won't arrive today and not known when it will.

 

Blimey, just seen that too, perhaps the Turks have had a change of heart after their huge increase in cases. If so it will a very grim time in some hospitals

 

Not a chance with the Tories Mario it’s the cheapest we can get or nothing unless it lines the pockets of Tax evading non Dom’s who actually really Dom.

 

Correct.

 

They said on the Saturday (or Friday) that all this PPE was due from Turkey......turns out they didn't even request it until Sunday (the day they said it would arrive).

A RAF plane has now gone to Turkey but still hasn't been loaded....purely for " pre positioning", so as of Tuesday lunch it still hasn't even left the ground despite Tory promises.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...er-it-said-it-was-already-on-its-way-11976238

 

We, as a country, are not self-sufficient in:

Food
Gas
Oil/Petrol
Electricity
Medicines
Medical equipment

We have enough water, but aren't self-sufficient in the chemicals needed to purify it.

 

Regardless of when the WHO designated it a pandemic it was obvious well before 11 March that this was going to be very serious and the availability of resources and ventilators would be a pressure point. The government sat on its hands for far too long.

 

Just unbelievable to me how the Government trot things out, they don't deliver and then carry on with more spin unchallenged. Surely there should be some heads rolling for the Turkey lie?

"Only a fraction of the gowns expected in a much-publicised shipment from Turkey actually arrived in the UK on Wednesday, HSJ understands.

Senior procurement sources have said just 32,000 of an anticipated 400,000 gowns were delivered — just a few hours’ supply for the health service, which currently goes through approximately 150,000 per day.

The government expected the gowns to arrive as part of a bulk delivery of personal protective equipment on Sunday. However, on Monday, culture secretary Oliver Dowden said problems in Turkey had delayed the flight.

The Royal Air Force finally delivered a batch of PPE from Ankara to RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire, on Wednesday, according to the BBC. It is not yet clear exactly what was included in the delivery, but the aeroplane used to ship the goods can reportedly carry a load of around 40 tonnes. It is thought the government was expecting to receive around twice that amount.

HSJ has approached the Department of Health and Social Care for comment.

The government has faced serious criticism over shortages of PPE, which is vital for protecting health and social care staff against covid-19. More than 100 health and social care workers have died after being infected by the virus.

Officials say global shortages, unprecedented demand and major logistical hurdles have been serious challenges in the race to procure enough PPE for the health and social care sector.

A global surge in demand and pressures on supply have led to an unpredictable PPE market, with customers reportedly facing intense international competition, price gouging, and the unpredictable fulfilment of orders."