'I would love to wave a magic wand and have PPE fall from the sky..'

[Casino218]

To think Mat Hancocks facetious comments are not welcome when health care workers are dying every week! He needs to stop acting clever and do his job!

China is hoarding PPE so there’s a global shortage. Even the American company 3M based in Asia cannot get face masks to America as it’s caught up with red tape. Trump even found some war legislation to force it to comply and China has blocked it.

Yes basically when this was developing in China they should have been getting their act together instead of white ring on about Brexit! They were caught with their trousers down and as a result people are dying. That doesn't make me an armchair expert that's pretty bleeding obvious and his snarky attitude does not make that any better!

Unfortunately (and I know this as a friend of a friend is a buyer for a company that sells PPE and other items ) that in many circumstances you'll find that orders from China were cancelled or not fulfilled.
Even though they whacked in treble the usual order for some vital items in mid January to China it was cancelled without explanation or apology.

They knew this was coming in January. Why were ppe items and ventilators not being manufactured then?

Too little, too late.

I'm so SICK of hearing excuses from Hancock and the rest. We were told by Johnson that our country was completely prepared. Then we were told the NHS would have everything it needed, whatever the cost. Then we were told they were 'straining every sinew' to get what was needed.

Every day the same shit in slightly different words. Daring to use that shitty 'magic' word, conjuring up Theresa May's 'no magic money tree' retort (to a NURSE who questioned why they hadn't had a pay rise for years)

The government response is a shambles, it's unacceptable and it has led to unnecessary deaths of healthcare workers.

I get supply and demand and that it all comes from China who manufacture at a cheap price and there is a global shortage. BUT I don’t understand why manufacturing was not swapped to Uk firms with capabilities as interim measures albeit at a far higher cost price per unit item. There were numerous offers as with testing that haven’t been taken up. This is incomprehensible given the circumstances. There is now a small army of individuals up and down the country sewing scrubs for their local hospitals and it’s crazy when there are British companies who could be coordinated on a much higher level. But the government are not business people and are slow and don’t have the skills or acumen to react to fast moving highly complex issues. To then have Brexit after this will be a disaster.

He can’t complain about people repeatedly asking the same question considering how often he’s changed his answers.

He’s gone from claiming we have all the PPE we need, to we have it and it’s just logistics getting it out to him needing a magic wand to get enough.

You have to ask him the same questions multiple times in the hope of finally getting an accurate answer

But the government are not business people and are slow and don’t have the skills or acumen to react to fast moving highly complex issues

No, they are not, which is why they don't have a delegation and why the commercial teams will be the ones dealing with it. I don't know why people think Boris will be sat on the phone or responding to emails. Even for urgent requirements there are strict regulations to adhere to when spending tax payers money, and for establishing supply frameworks with manufacturers. In this case you can bypass the regs as you would be granted an exemption, but there are still additional layers rather than just walking into a shop and dumping millions of items on a credit card. All of the newspaper articles from companies say about them not hearing anything back, it still takes time, unless you can magic a proc team out of your arse. They had so many responses to the call to arms, which is great, but you aren't going to get a response the next day. You still need to apply due diligence, and unfortunately there are companies out there on the scam. I am not saying they have handled it well, but a lot of expectations are unrealistic for a publically funded supply chain.

Also the procurement system is still shambolic. I know of a company who have offered to make the visor masks who’ve had replied thanking them for their interest in making ventilators and the government will be in touch if they are needed.

They’re now sending half of what they make to Norway (uk/Norwegian company) and passing the rest out via Facebook and social media

Also the procurement system is still shambolic

Yes, a lot of 'excess' was removed from the CS a few years back, unfortunately sometimes you require that additional manpower. Ah austerity bites

It’s not just about the manpower @tattiebee it’s so disorganised

They’ve had five replies to two emails. All saying roughly the same thing, but not exactly the same. So work is bring repeated and there’s seemingly no standard template replies

Why would there be standard replies? There are humans seeing the submissions, and there will be various 'rounds' and reviews, it won't just be someone sat there saying yeah, no, maybe. It is frustrating for suppliers, but this isn't standard proc practice which would follow EU Regs, something on this scale would normally take a long time to get to pre market engagement, so the following of standard process and planning would make it smoother and more professional. More people working on it would make it more efficient.

I think he's disgraceful. He doesn't seem to have any idea what he's doing. They think it's all just a joke. Inexcusable.

@Tattiebee There should be standard replies because they all essentially say “thanks for your email re ventilators. We’re working through them and if needs be someone will get back to you”

Having a stock reply would make far more sense than people spending time formulating replies that say slightly different things. Especially when they say different things about timescales and process

Also people aren’t even reading the emails properly given they aren’t about ventilators

There should be several stock replies in the initial email sift

@Tattiebee

I get the govt can't just rock up with a credit card and there has to be due diligence.

When I say 'private' companies some are publicly listed on the stock market with shareholders and the relevant regulatory accreditations and audits etc. How hard is it going to be to perform due diligence on companies like that.

They've managed to sign up 750k NHS volunteers, check passports and presumably do a DBS, plus create an app matching people up against needs. That happened in weeks and whilst great, it is less of a priority than tests and PPE. Which we knew was needed MONTHS not weeks ago.

What's happened for tests and PPE? Email PHE. Shambles and unacceptable are the only words.

I love the NHS but the inefficiency is a joke, As has been known for a long time, if the NHS procurement teams with all their resources and spending power can't sort this out they should be fired, it wouldn't be allowed in the private sector since the business would fail.

We don't expect magic - we expect competence. Get industry leaders together to sort it out.

I'm not political party about it but Matt Hancock needs to fall on his sword for this.

love the NHS but the inefficiency is a joke, As has been known for a long time, if the NHS procurement teams with all their resources and spending power can't sort this out they should be fired, it wouldn't be allowed in the private sector since the business would fail.

Oh I agree! Like other parts, training is underfunded and pay is well below industry standard. The whole procurement system and several in it needs drastically sorting. But many are doing their best with crap guidance that keeps changing, little support, staff shortages and clunky systems and processes. A lot won't have done anything like this before, and are also being shafted. I look towards for blame.

@lyralalala guidelines and timescales are changing all of the time to be fair. I'm guessing they haven't had dealings with the gov before? I feel they may be overestimating the efficiency at which a broken system can work.

Upwards *

@Tattiebee They have had many dealings with them before.

They're just a bit baffled why apparently busy people keep replying to the same email as if it was the first one.

Also it's likely extra frustrating for them because they're offering to supply the stuff for free for the moment. The Norwegian government managed to reply and help them set up shipping for the ones going there quicker than our can even reply properly.

Have a read of this article: www.drapersonline.com/business-operations/i-had-to-bypass-nhs-to-make-ppe-for-hospitals/7040167.article

*My first conversation about supplying the NHS was on 16 March. Since then, I have been contacted by NHS Supply Chain Coordination, Deloitte, the Crown Commercial Service [which provides commercial services to the public sector] and the government – but frustratingly, none of these discussion have amounted to anything.

It became apparent to me that the centralised NHS governance is simply not agile enough to react effectively in a crisis. So, while becoming more and more frustrated, we took the decision to sidestep the bureaucracy, bypass the central system and began a dialogue with our local hospitals.*

Agree wholeheartedly with keepwashing If it’s beyond their capabilities which obviously it is ask industry leaders to step in and sort it out. This issue is too important for incompetent amateurs who are out of their depth.

It is a global problem and there are growing concerns that the richer nations are pricing out the poorer ones. This is the view from Germany where there are shortages and Merkel has stated that never again will PPE be produced outside the country.

www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/eat-or-be-eaten-the-global-medical-products-market-has-gone-feral-a-e6f65515-c913-4837-a121-be6567372c42

While I understand people's anger and frustration, I also think it is a very child-like response to circumstances that are completely beyond anyone's total control. Things are much more complicated and nuanced than "they should have acted earlier/known better". It's a frightening thing to contemplate that no-one really knows what they're doing, and that, just perhaps, they're doing the best they can in extraordinary circumstances.

Would you have done any better? Really?

I totally agree with the inherent inefficiency of the NHS, which appears to be the same for all very large (and many small) public sector organisations, where profit is not a driver.

I agree that a pandemic on this scale is outside anything that many have had to deal with.

However when it was clear what Italy was going through and what scientists around the world were saying, then yes I think the government should have acted faster. I don’t think having that thought is a child-like response.

There is also the no small matter of Exercise Cygnus.

Did and one see shadow medical office on tele morning . fully critising then ask what should they do thats better she was totally stumped and couldn't answer question.
Very quick to point out where the shortcoming were but not 1 word of advice what could help the situation .
As they say those who never do never do wrong.
It's a global problem is it the fact EVERY country got it wrong or is it a monumental task never faced before and they are learning as they go as it changes daily.

Would you have done any better? Really?

Don't be ridiculous, Hancock is the Secretary of State for Health, that's a very big title and carries huge responsibility and an assumption that someone is up to that title.

People keep brushing aside criticisms 'oh it's a global pandemic didn't you notice'. What you are failing to address is that we have been consistently misled (ie lied to) about the capacity of the Gov to deal with the crisis and making crass remarks about magic wands is really unacceptable