THE government spent £10 billion extra in inflated prices for Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) due to an inadequate stockpile and a surge in global demand, a report has concluded.

And of the 32 billion items procured between February and July, only 2.6bn were delivered to front-line organisations in that period, the National Audit Office (NAO) said, with demand so high in April and May that stock levels were “negligible” for most types of protection.

The Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC) paid 166 per cent more for respirator masks and 1,300 per cent more for body bags during the pandemic’s first wave this year compared with 2019.

In its report published today, the NAO noted that the department spent almost £13bn on PPE between February and July due to the global surge in demand and restrictions on exports in some countries.

The public-spending watchdog concluded that, had the government been able to buy at 2019 prices, PPE expenditure to July this year would have been £2.5bn: £10bn less than it paid.

The NAO noted that existing stockpiles, which were geared towards a flu-style pandemic, were not sufficient for Covid-19.

NAO head Gareth Davies said: “As PPE stockpiles were inadequate for the pandemic, government needed to take urgent action to boost supplies.

“Once it recognised the gravity of the situation … the price of PPE increased dramatically, and that alone has cost the taxpayer around £10bn.”

Commons public accounts committee chairwoman Meg Hillier accused ministers of being “far too slow” to respond and said they were left paying “through the roof” for the front-line equipment.

Labour’s shadow health minister Justin Madders said: “This report confirms that front-line workers didn’t have access to adequate PPE early on in the pandemic, putting them at unnecessary risk.

“There is no doubt that a significant reason for the shortage was the government’s failure to prepare properly and take on board warnings about PPE stockpiles.”

The findings come a week after the watchdog found that there had been a “high-priority lane” for PPE suppliers referred to the procurement team by officials, ministers’ offices, MPs, peers and senior NHS staff. Some one in 10 companies received a contract via this route compared with one in 100 for those in the “ordinary” lane.