UK health agency has no plans to stockpile vaccines in advance of a pandemic

The UK health agency has an alarming lack of plans to stockpile vaccines or PPE in advance of a pandemic, according to a new report.

An investigation into the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) found that it risks exposing healthcare workers to equipment shortages in future crises by failing to have a clear plan for a national emergency stockpile.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee also accused the UKHSA of “completely staggering” accounting failings.

It found that £3.3 billion ($4.19 billion) in NHS Test and Trace inventory could not be verified by proper financial records.

UKHSA was set up to replace Public Health England in 2021, absorbing the work of test and trace and playing a vital role in detecting potential variants of concern during the Covid pandemic.

But the cross-party committee found the body was established with “financial controls so poor” it was “unable to prepare auditable accounts”.

Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier labelled the government's lack of planning for the future as "inexcusable".

“The UK Health Security Agency was set up with great fanfare in 2021, and rightly so given the significance of its role in leading protection against threats to our nation’s health," she said.

“It is completely staggering, then, that an organisation envisaged as a foundation stone of our collective security was established with a leadership hamstrung by a lack of formal governance, and financial controls so poor that billions of pounds in NHS Test and Trace inventory can no longer be properly accounted for.

“It is greatly alarming that there is no clear plan from the government for an emergency stockpile of vaccines, medicines and PPE.

“Three years after the start of the pandemic, the government still has no proper controls over the PPE stocks it already has. This could leave frontline workers exposed in the future to shortages similar to those faced in 2020.

“For the government not to make serious preparations for any future pandemic would be utterly inexcusable.”

The committee also criticised a “lack of formal governance” and the appointment as chief executive of Dame Jenny Harries, who had “no previous technical experience in elements of running a complex organisation”.

This resulted in “inadequate scrutiny and assurance of UKHSA’s operations”, according to the MPs.

UK writes off £10 billion of unusable or unneeded PPE

The report also noted the Department of Health and Social care (DHSC) has “written off” £14.9 billion of inventory in the past two years, including nearly £10 billion of unusable or unneeded PPE, as well as Covid medicines and vaccines.

Three years after the start of the pandemic, DHSC continues to pay large sums to store and dispose of the kit, estimating this “will cost £319 million over the next few years”, the report said.

No proper stocktakes of the existing PPE can be taken, because it would cost £70 million to move and open inaccessible storage containers.

“UKHSA did not have effective control over its cash management process and did not even perform bank reconciliations, one of the most basic financial controls for an organisation," the report, which reviewed the DHSC's 2021-2022 finances, said.

Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Daisy Cooper has described it as an "utter shambles".

"It is shocking that the government failed to ensure that even the most basic checks were in place, while billions of taxpayers’ money was wasted on unusable PPE,” she said.

The government said "buying vital Covid vaccines and medicines saved countless lives and kept NHS and care staff safe".

“In the face of an unprecedented pandemic, we had to compete in an overheated global market to procure items to protect the public, frontline health and care workers and our NHS," it said.

Dame Jenny said the UKHSA is working with the DHSC.

"We have always taken our accounts and financial controls very seriously. The UKHSA was created in unprecedented circumstances when tackling Covid was our first priority, and we inherited significant pre-existing accounts challenges," she said.

“We have already instituted strong governance arrangements in a hugely complex organisation at the earliest opportunity. This progress means our organisation is now substantially different in terms of stability, governance and financial controls.

“We are working with DHSC to ensure the robustness of our accounts is recognised both now and for the future. Despite these inherited financial challenges, the UKHSA continues to fulfil its priority remit – to protect lives.”

Covid-19 is still causing about 1,000 deaths each week in the World Health Organisation’s Europe region.