Stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) on 30 November 2020
Published 2 March 2021
Applies to England
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In the September 2020 PPE strategy, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said they would create a stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) equivalent to 120 days of reasonable worst-case demand for England (this is now called the 120-day demand). This stockpile was to be in place by the end of November 2020.
These experimental statistics show the volume of PPE that DHSC held as a stockpile on 30 November 2020. The volumes of PPE are compared to the 120-day demand.
On 30 November 2020, DHSC held a stockpile exceeding the 120-day demand for each of the 9 categories of PPE included in the commitment.
Data collection
Data is sourced from management information used to support the PPE programme.
Figures for the 120-day demand are derived from internal modelling. This is based on a model of absolute worst-case PPE usage, adjusted to take account of previous levels of PPE uptake. The 120-day demand was modelled at 30 November 2020.
The 9 categories of PPE included in the target are:
- aprons
- body bags
- clinical waste bags
- eye protection (goggles and visors)
- FFP3 face masks
- IIR face masks
- gloves
- gowns
- chemicals for hand hygiene
Calculations
The volume of stock held, for each category of PPE, is compared to the 120-day demand. This data is given in Table A. The volume of stock is also given as a percentage of the 120-day demand:
stock percentage = (volume of stock held )/(120-day demand ) × 100
If stock is larger than the 120-day demand, this percentage will be at least 100%.
The stock percentages are also shown as a bar chart in figure 1. The horizontal line (at 100%) shows where the size of the stockpile is the same as the 120-day demand. When it is not possible to see the full extent of a bar, this is indicated with dashes at the top of that bar.
In each of the 9 categories, the stock is greater than the 120-day demand.
Table A: volume of PPE in stock on 30 November 2020 and 120-day demand
| Number of items held in stock (millions) | 120-day demand (millions) | Stock held as percentage of 120-day demand | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aprons | 2,579.0 | 1,794.0 | 144% | |
| Body bags | 0.3 | 0.1 | 221% | |
| Clinical waste bags | 60.7 | 45.0 | 135% | |
| Eye protectors | 812.4 | 52.0 | 1,562% | |
| Face mask FFP3 | 53.0 | 34.6 | 153% | |
| Face mask IIR | 5,098.1 | 693.9 | 735% | |
| Gloves | 3,782.1 | 3,690.0 | 102% | |
| Gowns | 342.9 | 55.4 | 618% | |
| Hand hygiene | 23.0 | 7.9 | 292% |
Note: percentages may differ due to rounding
Date of data: 30 November 2020
Figure 1: stock held as a percentage of the 120-day demand
