A Telegraph
investigation has revealed that millions of pieces of personal protective equipment have been shipped from the UK to Europe despite nationwide shortages.
Last week, a UK firm shipped over one million respirators and five million surgical masks to countries across Europe, including Spain, Germany and Italy. British firms have said they were offered “no choice” but to continue selling PPE out with the UK, with the government continuing to ignore their offers of help.
The British government continues to face criticism regarding their handling of the PPE crisis. The amount of PPE delivered to the health care sector was down by almost two thirds when compared with two weeks ago, while doctors have said they have been forced to choose to either expose themselves to Covid-19, or to let “a patient die on their watch”.
The
shortage of PPE has been attributed to a global shortage of supplies by government
ministers. America has been hit particularly hard, with just under three
quarters of frontline health workers citing a lack of protective equipment as their first concern.
UK wholesalers have contradicted government claims, stating that their warehouses are full of PPE from China which is now being distributed across Europe for health workers responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A source has revealed that in the past week over five million surgical masks, and one and a half million respirators stored in warehouses near Heathrow and Birmingham, were packed into vans registered to Veenak International. The firm, who are based in Birmingham, purchases PPE from Chinese factories and is currently sitting on millions of pounds of PPE in its warehouses across the UK.
Images released from inside the warehouses reveal the message written on the boxes of PPE which reads: “British keep fighting! You are not the only one that is fighting, we will be with you! We are waves of the same ocean!”
Chief executive of Veenak International, Shan Hassam, was reluctant to discuss the company’s commercial arrangements, however, said that: “We are a very patriotic company and we want to do all we can to help the NHS.
“We stand ready to prioritise our British customers if given the opportunity to do so.”
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation
Trust were provided with face shields and goggles by the company; however, it
is understood they were forced to sidestep government procurement process in
order to do so.
A press conference held yesterday forced Cabinet Officials to admit that PPE would now be made in the UK as well as abroad in order to respond to the crisis. Discussions are currently underway to allow textile companies to produce gowns and masks using material made in the UK.
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, said that the government would continue to "pursue every possible option" in order to provide the country with the PPE it needs. He continued: "This is an international challenge that many other countries are experiencing.
