Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 36032274)

Because the entire world is trying to get hold of it, and it takes weeks/months to manufacture and ship - the orders are in, they are being manufactured.

Originally Posted by pip08456 (Post 36032283)

And as the EU procurement program has yet to supply 1 piece of PPE then being part of it or not is fuss and nonsense as you well know Andrew.

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 36032279)

that will be arriving soon

Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36032284)

So it's perfectly acceptable for the EU to trot that excuse out, but when the Government say it, they get criticised and lambasted for not forward planning?

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 36031973)

I think the problem is that it is expected that, during a world-wide shortage of PPE, and an unforeseen requirement for PPE in Care Homes (the supply requirement went from a couple of hundred Trusts to over 58,000 organisations), there would/should be enought for everyone - this is a massive shift in requirements in a time of crisis, and a complex supply chain, mostly from overseas.

Could things have been done better - probably; does it help blaming people until we know the facts - probably not.

There have been shortfalls in lots of places - an example would be in Care Homes, where the group that my mum-in-law is in got supplies of PPE early in the crisis, whilst other Care Home organisations didn't; the other care homes shouldn't be blamed for not being as forward thinking as the one mum's in, because at the beginning very few people thought it would come to this. Should all the GP Surgeries, which are in effect private businesses, be blamed for not having ordered PPE equipment earlier?

In the vast complexity of Health and Social Care, whatever the Government does, it won't be enough - review afterwards, critique constructively during, but blaming is inappropriate at this stage, imho (especially without evidence, as in the comments about NHS managers).

From the Times

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 36031457)

Reasonably balanced article in the Times today.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d...TM_1Imag_CR1_2

Washington Post view

https://s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-r...m=4&linktot=78

At this time, I think the Government made decisions based on what they thought was best for the country at that time, then changed when evidence within and without the country showed differently - I hope we learn from this, but any witch hunt will only make that more difficult.

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 36032292)

No, I have always said that it is not fair to criticise them for that - what I have criticised is not having the emergency just in case stocks in place, and not joining the EU procurement initiative so that we will get the PPE equipment quicker.

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 36032292)

and not joining the EU procurement initiative so that we will get the PPE equipment quicker.

Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36032295)

They've got some quicker, just flew in from Turkey.

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 36032298)

The EU countries already have some, the EU procurement initiative was planning for when there were greater shortfalls due to increased demand...

Anyway, on a more humorous note, people were explaining why Jacob Rees-Mogg was in the HoC for the resumption of Parliament, rather than video-conferencing, when some one said on Twitter

:batty: :D

Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36032295)

They've got some quicker, just flew in from Turkey.

Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36032287)

We wouldn't have got any kit any quicker via the EU, that's for sure.

Originally Posted by pip08456 (Post 36032300)

That's just the first load (25 tons of 84 tons total).

Originally Posted by jonbxx (Post 36032310)

Acquisition of PPE is a public health issue and so does not normally fall under the EUs umbrella as public health is a national issue, not an EU wide one so the European Commission has started from scratch on this one.

So why did countries ask/allow the EU to take on PPE procurement? I am guessing cost is a big issue. If 27 countries (or 28 if someone checks their email) plus a few other countries are all bidding for a limited supply of PPE, a bidding war will start which doesn't help anyone but most impacts the less well off countries which have been hit hard by the virus.

Originally Posted by Chris (Post 36032313)

70% of journalists and media professionals polled by the Press Gazette think journalists are not doing a good job of holding the government to account over the Covid-19 crisis.

https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/poll-...spondents-say/