Guidance

PPE excess stock management statistics: statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

Published 30 March 2023

Applies to England

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is publishing statistics about managing excess stock of personal protective equipment (PPE) via disposals, donations or sales. This relates to items obtained during the coronavirus pandemic to meet the needs of frontline health and social care services where we hold more stock than is needed for future demand and use.

Our publications are categorised as experimental statistics and this statement outlines the steps we have taken towards compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The code is built around 3 main concepts, or pillars:

• trustworthiness: having confidence in the people and organisations that produce statistics and data
• quality: data and methods that produce assured statistics
• value: publishing statistics that support society’s needs for information

Trustworthiness

These statistics are compiled from management information used by the excess stock team in managing the disposal process. Information is sourced from partner organisations engaged in storing and managing PPE inventory alongside information around planned and confirmed disposal of stock. The process, and therefore the data, relate to items obtained for use in England only.

This management information is part of the operational delivery of the excess stock management process and the underlying data has been seen in advance by officials.

These statistics have been developed under guidance from the DHSC head of profession for statistics. In addition, the Office for Statistical Regulation has a statutory role to challenge and scrutinise the robustness of the figures and clarity of the supporting commentary.

This publication has been released on an ad hoc basis, providing figures on the disposal process thus far. Responsibility for the operational process will transfer on 1 April 2023 to NHS Supply Chain, which is a separate organisation. NHS Supply Chain will consider the need for putting future updates in the public domain if there continues to be interest in these figures.

Quality

The published figures provided are compiled by professional analysts using the latest available data and applying methods using their professional judgement and analytical skillset. This has included careful and independent validation of the figures, for example querying apparent outliers or anomalies with the operational team. The final figures have been quality assured by analysts within both NHS Supply Chain and DHSC.

The data presented is derived from operational management data maintained and processed by the excess stock management team. The source data reflects proposed or planned lines for disposal, and separate data records the status of each case. These statistics record completed cases, and so show items actually removed from storage sites for reasons of sale, disposal or donation. As part of the quality assurance process the figures have been checked for consistency against other published figures in the public domain.

Value

In publishing this data, we aim to provide evidence for ministers, policy makers and external stakeholders on the policy to manage excess stock of PPE and related equipment.

The timeliness of the data provides the most recent update using reliable data.

Making this information available in this form provides a single definitive source of data on disposals, using validated and reliable data. It enables informed reflection on the volumes of items disposed of.

Making figures available in this published form clarifies the overall position for the public and end users and helps reduce the administrative burden of answering Parliamentary questions, freedom of information requests and other queries on management of excess stock of PPE, particularly where it is clear that the department holds relevant management information.