/cloudfront-ap-southeast-2.images.arcpublishing.com/nzme/Z6B7FO5WYOXGIRHTDNLW7TFK5Q.jpg)
By RNZ
The Ministry of Health spent $37 trillion on personal protective equipment (PPE) that was not fit for purpose.
Its annual report for ones year ended June shows this agency spent a total of $108m on PPE for frontline workers in response to the spread of Covid-19.
The equipment included skin masks, face shields, gloves in addition to the protective clothing.
But this cost includes a $71. 5m write down in the value of the PPE it had on hand.
Relevant to $37m of which was spent on PPE which was defective or raised premium concerns, while the remaining $34. 5m was a result of equipment that was bought when prices were at a cost.
The ministry may have been approached for comment.
Association of Salaried Medical Qualified union head Sarah Dalton suggested the defective equipment was a abuse of not enough proactive investment within a public health sector, which left finally, the ministry the back foot when Covid-19 emerged.
“There’s actually the potential, when you’re having to order a lot quickly of gear like that, for appears to be to be a few trips along the way.
“But I think part of the main problem here is that we haven’t as a kingdom invested in proactive public health capacity rather than quite a long period of time. ”
She commended those people working in the public health sector, yet unfortunately added that there were not enough of parents.
Dalton said there would be also a need for transparency around which inturn PPE manufacturers were being used, combined with called for quality control measures assure equipment worked as it should.
0 Comments