Watchdog criticises poor planning that left UK without enough PPE as COVID-19 struck

Britain’s failure to stockpile key pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) before the coronavirus pandemic left supplies dangerously low and forced the government to pay five times the normal price to meet demand, the public spending watchdog said. About a third of doctors and nurses, including those working in the riskiest areas of hospitals with COVID-19 patients, complained they were given inadequate protective equipment as the pandemic swept across Britain earlier this year. There were insufficient supplies of gowns and visors despite warnings from some of the government’s top scientific advisers last year that they should be increased, the National Audit Office (NAO) said in a report.