More than £40m worth of personal protection equipment bought during the Covid pandemic and sitting in warehouses is at risk of reaching its expiry date before it can be used, according to a new audit report.
The issue is “exacerbated” by contractual commitments to buy more of them, according to the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) report into central government annual accounts to the end of August and published on Wednesday.
“As the impact of the pandemic has receded, the demand for PPE products has reduced. Based on average weekly usage rates, potentially £43m of inventory is at risk of not being used before its current lifespan expires,” the report stated.
The report added that “there continues to be uncertainty around future PPE demand and the issue is exacerbated by BSO’s contractual commitments to buy more of them”.
Contracts worth many multi millions were signed by the Department of Health’s purchasing arm in 2020, including a whole series of deals with a potential - though not actual - value of close to £200m with local companies in October of that year.
Four million masks, both the widely used type IIR and the much more expensive FFP3, were being used and discarded every week by health care workers, including those in social care and the independent sector during the pandemic.
“Whilst recognising the unprecedented environment of COVID-19 and the haste in which organisations were required to act to deal with the pandemic, there are important lessons to be learned,” said Comptroller and Auditor General Dorinnia Carville in a largely upbeat report of the accounts of government department and certain agencies.
PPE “was an absolute priority in the pandemic to protect patients and frontline health and social care staff”, the department said in a statement, adding there was always a likelihood of oversupply but the risk had to be taken.
“The decision to pursue significant and sustained supplies for NI - both internationally and in the local market - was entirely correct,” a spokesperson said.
“A final total has not yet been determined in relation to writing off expenditure as work is continuing on a number of fronts to limit the figure.
“This includes working with suppliers to re-life products, securing purchasers, termination of contracts, and investigating recycling and re-purposing options.”
Decisions were taken to minimise spend, while meeting contractual obligations, as soon as it was clear the need for PPE had changed radically, the department said.
Large levels of benefit fraud and/or error continue to be reported by government departments, though the levels are lower than the previous year.
There was an estimated £174.1 million in fraud and/or benefit expenditure revealed by the Department for Communities, approximately £12.7 million reported by the Housing Executive and an estimated £2.5 million in legal aid fraud and error in the Legal Services Agency financial statements.
Ms Carville said: “I am pleased that the majority of financial statements I have certified during my first year in post have been well-prepared and presented for audit within agreed timetables, with the vast majority receiving an unqualified audit opinion.”
The report does note continuing issues around irregular expenditure relating to the Department for the Economy and Tourism NI on COVID-19 business support schemes.