1.5bn unused PPE items in England have passed expiry date, says audit office

A London ambulance worker puts on PPE in the early days of the pandemic in April 2020. Photograph: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Some 1.5bn items of personal protective equipment (PPE) in storage in England have passed their expiry date, the public spending watchdog has revealed, as a powerful Commons committee urged the government to “get a grip” on stocks and contracts.

More than 3.6bn PPE items are being stored by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) because it considers them unsuitable for frontline services, accounting for 11% of all PPE it has received, the National Audit Office (NAO) said after its investigation into the management of PPE contracts.