Government confirms 400,000 Turkish gowns are useless for NHS

A cabinet minister has confirmed that 400,000 gowns from Turkey to protect medics from coronavirus have been impounded because they were poor quality, but he insisted “strong supplies” were now coming through to the frontline.

The personal protective equipment (PPE) from Turkey was heralded by ministers several weeks ago as “a very significant” shipment that would ease a shortage of gowns in the NHS, but the delivery turned into a shambles after it was repeatedly delayed.

In a final blow to the government, Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, acknowledged on Thursday that the gowns had in fact been useless for medical purposes.

“There was a view that it was good enough PPE. It is only when it has got here that teams have looked at it again and taken a view that it is not up to the right standard and they’ve decided not to use it,” he said.

“I think it is right that if we have got particular standards for what we want our frontline staff to be able to have access to we make sure we stick to that.

“If something isn’t right, if we’re not even sure about it then I think it is better to be safe and not use that product and stick with products we are confident are the right products and the right standards.”

Speaking on Sky News, he attempted to downplay the significance of the Turkish shipment, saying it was just one delivery.

“We’ve got some really strong supplies now coming through but we’re always looking to ensure they are good enough,” he said.

However, he was unable to say whether the Department of Health and Social Care would be able to get its money back, and why samples of the equipment were not checked before the transaction happened.

The items are being held in a facility near Heathrow airport and sources said the DHSC intended to seek a refund, as it has done in similar situations in the past.

The announcement of the shipment by the communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, on 18 April came at a time when unions and professional bodies were warning that NHS staff may refuse to work without PPE.

Jenrick told the daily Downing Street press briefing that healthcare workers should be “assured that we are doing everything we can to correct this issue”, saying they would have the equipment they “need and deserve”.

Sources later told the Guardian that the DHSC had advised No 10 not to allow Jenrick to publicise the shipment in case it backfired, but was overruled.

The necessary clearances, it turned out, had not been sought. When the consignment did not arrive on time as promised, the delay prompted hospital leaders to directly attack the government for the first time during the pandemic.

Ministers responded by saying they thought it may only a one-day delay. Two days later, with the shipment only then beginning to clear Turkish customs checks, they were only able to give an estimate of arrival “in the next few days”.

The first planeload of gowns eventually arrived on 22 April, but the next day it was reported that “less than a 10th” of the order had arrived. Now all are expected to be returned.

The saga, first reported by the Telegraph, is one of a series of highly publicised government coronavirus initiatives that have failed to deliver the promised results. Its much-trumpeted “ventilator challenge” asked companies such as Rolls-Royce and Dyson to begin producing the machines, but none have reached the final stages of testing and the majority have proved surplus to requirements.

And ministers are facing questions over their testing strategy after it emerged on Wednesday that, despite briefly passing the 100,000 per day target set for the end of April using a tally inflated by including tests that had been sent out but not completed, the government had since fallen short of the mark for a fourth day running.

In the last few days, a British Medical Association survey has revealed that almost half of England’s doctors have sourced their own PPE or relied on a donation when none was available through normal NHS channels.

A DHSC spokesman said: “This is a global pandemic with many countries procuring PPE, leading to shortages around the world, not just the UK.

“We are working night and day to source PPE internationally and domestically, and brought together the NHS, industry and the armed forces to create a comprehensive PPE distribution network to deliver critical supplies to the frontline.

“All deliveries of PPE are checked to ensure the equipment meets the safety and quality standards our frontline staff need. If equipment does not meet our specifications or pass our quality assurance processes, it is not distributed to the front line.”