Guidance

PPE portal: how to order COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE)

Eligible health and social care providers can order PPE through the portal to meet the increased need that has arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applies to England

Who can use the portal

The PPE portal can be used by social care and primary care providers to get critical COVID-19 PPE.

Providers who can use the service will receive an email invitation to register.

NHS Supply Chain has partnered with Clipper Logistics, Unipart Logistics and distribution suppliers to develop this service.

You can only log in and place an order if you’ve received an email invitation to register.

The PPE portal can be used by:

  • GPs
  • residential social care providers
  • domiciliary social care providers
  • pharmacies
  • dentists
  • orthodontists
  • optometrists
  • children’s care homes and secure homes
  • all special schools and special post-16 institutes
  • community drug and alcohol services
  • residential drug and alcohol services
  • independent sector providers (ISPs) providing NHS services
  • vaccination sites and vaccination centres
  • hospices
  • health and social care settings that were previously supplied via their local authority or local resilience forum (LRF) - more information for these settings can be found at PPE: local contacts for providers

If you’re a provider in one of these categories, your invitation to register will be sent to your email address registered with your organisation. This email will be from ppeportal@supplychain.nhs.uk.

Information about children’s social care providers is supplied to NHS Supply Chain by the Department for Education.

Steps to getting free PPE

  1. If you are eligible, you’ll receive an email invite to the PPE portal
  2. Register with the email address the invite was sent to
  3. Receive a link to confirm registration
  4. Click on the link and create your password
  5. Order your weekly COVID-19 PPE
  6. PPE is delivered directly to the address supplied to us

When to use the portal

Eligible health and social care providers can use the portal to meet the extra need for PPE that has arisen as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

You should not use the portal to order PPE for non-COVID-19 requirements. You should get this through your normal channels.

Help with using the portal

If you need help with the portal you can get in touch using the contact form on the PPE portal. There’s a list of query categories to select from to help us route you through to the correct customer service department. We can help with the following:

  • problems with registering
  • problems with ordering
  • if you believe you are eligible but have not been invited

Alternatively, you can call the customer service team on 0800 876 6802. The team is available from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

We may need to contact the Care Quality Commission (CQC), NHS Business Services Authority (BSA), NHS England or the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to help resolve queries.

Delivery times and cost

PPE ordered from the portal is free of charge until 31 March 2024 or until the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) stocks are depleted. Read further information about the extension and the scheme.

Orders will be delivered within 5 days.

Large orders of PPE are likely to be delivered on a pallet. If you are unable to receive an order via a pallet, please return to basket and reduce the size of your order to fewer than 80 items. Please note, pallet deliveries will be doorstep delivery and customers are responsible for offloading the items and taking them inside.

PPE standards

All PPE offered on the portal meets UK government quality standards.

You can find more information on PPE standards at Public Health England’s COVID-19 PPE hub and NHS guidance on supply and use of PPE and other supplies.

When to contact your local authority or local resilience forums

Some local authorities and LRFs are continuing to distribute PPE in their local areas. Your local authority or LRF will advise you on the specific approach being taken. You can find a list of contact details in the PPE: local contacts for providers guidance.

The following sectors can now also sign up to the PPE portal:

  • a local authority service (including children and adult social care workers)
  • mental health community care
  • personal assistants (local authority, integrated care board commissioned, funded through personal health budgets and self-funded)
  • direct payment recipient or individual employer
  • domestic violence refuges
  • rough sleeping services
  • extra-resident unpaid carers (an unpaid carer who does not live with the individual they care for)
  • an adult social care service that is not CQC registered (for example, supported living, extra care, shared lives)

If you are one of the above sectors and need access to PPE, please contact your local authority or LRF for further information. You can also contact the customer service team on 0800 876 6802.

Published 5 June 2020
Last updated 9 February 2023 + show all updates
  1. Updated 'Delivery times and cost' to say that PPE ordered from the portal is free of charge until 31 March 2024 or until stocks are depleted. Also updated 'Help with using the portal' to include a link to a contact form.

  2. Updated to correct the customer services team phone number.

  3. Updated to reflect that the portal used to order PPE has moved to a new platform.

  4. Updated to reflect that the PPE portal can be used by health and social care settings that were previously supplied via their local authority or local resilience forum.

  5. Updated call out to reflect that customer migration to the new portal is now complete and that the old portal will close on 26 April 2022. Also updated the customer service timings.

  6. Noting the PPE portal can be used by independent sector providers (ISPs) providing NHS services, vaccination sites and vaccination centres, and hospices.

  7. Removed references to order limits as these are now available to see on the portal. Added information on new sectors that can sign up and how they can contact their local authority or local resilience forum.

  8. Updated to add a call out informing of the dates for migrating to the new PPE portal.

  9. Updated to say that it is a legal requirement on employers that FFP3 masks must be fit tested on all health and care staff who may be required to wear one. Updated the order limits for GPs to include FFP3 masks.

  10. Increased order limits of visors by 50% across all categories.

  11. Updated order limits for pharmacies with between 14 and 20 staff, and added new order limits for pharmacies with 20 or more staff.

  12. Updated order limits for pharmacies with 15 or more staff. They can now order up to (per week): 1,000 IIR masks, 1,000 aprons, 2,000 gloves (1,000 pairs).

  13. Updated order limits for GPs, domiciliary care providers, residential care homes, pharmacies, dentists, orthodontists, optometrists, children’s care homes and secure homes, residential special schools, and non-residential special schools (which conduct aerosol-generating procedures), community drug and alcohol services and residential drug and alcohol services. Removed 'nitrile' from gloves for all providers.

  14. Added information on small hand hygiene order limits for domiciliary care providers.

  15. Updated order limits for domiciliary care providers, residential care homes, dentists, orthodontists, residential special schools, and non-residential special schools (which conduct aerosol-generating procedures); addition of visors to the order limits for pharmacies.

  16. Added 'nitrile' to gloves for all providers, and 'vinyl gloves' to domiciliary care providers and residential care homes. Removed 'boxes of small hand hygiene' from domiciliary care providers.

  17. Updated information on visor order limits.

  18. Updated information on domiciliary care and non-residential special schools order limits.

  19. Updated information on adult social care order limits and removed the section on when to use the National Supply Disruption Response.

  20. Addition of small bottles of hand hygiene to the order limits for domiciliary care providers.

  21. Updated to remove 'children's' qualifier from residential special schools and non-residential special schools; updated order limits for pharmacies, optometrists, children's care homes and secure homes, residential and non-residential special schools, and community drug and alcohol services; added order limits for non-residential special schools (who do not conduct aerosol-generating procedures).

  22. Added order limits for non-residential special schools and removed note about Christmas order limits.

  23. Updated order limits for domiciliary care providers, residential care homes and children’s residential special schools to include FFP masks and gowns. For domiciliary care providers and residential care homes, these items are available to providers that carry out aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs).

  24. Updated order limits for GPs, domiciliary care providers, pharmacies, dentists, orthodontists, optometrists, community drug and alcohol services, and residential drug and alcohol services.

  25. Updated order limits for the Christmas period. Added a video about using the portal.

  26. Updated order limits for domiciliary care providers.

  27. Updated information on order limits for children's care homes and residential special schools, dentists and orthodontists.

  28. Updated order limits for domiciliary care providers and children’s residential special schools.

  29. Updated order limit information for all sectors to reflect changes to visor orders; updated order limit information for GPs, domiciliary care providers, residential care homes, dentists, orthodontists, community drug and alcohol services and residential drug and alcohol services to reflect recent increases; added FFP mask order limits for dentists and orthodontists.

  30. Added details of customer service team for the PPE portal.

  31. Updated order limits for domiciliary care providers and residential care homes.

  32. Added information on order limits for gowns for dentists and orthodontists.

  33. Added instructions and infographic on getting free PPE. Changed delivery times section - orders will be delivered by Royal Mail within 5 days.

  34. Updated information on pharmacy order limits.

  35. Updated order limit information for all sectors to reflect recent increases and removed order information on type II masks.

  36. Added community and residential drug and alcohol services to the categories of provider that can order from the portal. Delivery times have been updated: orders will be delivered within 4 days.

  37. Eligible providers can now use the portal to order PPE for COVID-19 requirements, rather than as an emergency top-up system. The guidance has been updated to reflect this. Added information about when to use the National Supply Disruption Response.

  38. Domiciliary care providers with 50 or more clients and residential care home with over 50 or more beds can now order one box of visors (usually 200 per box) per week.

  39. Added type II masks to the list of items that can be ordered and updated order limits for GPs and social care providers.

  40. Added children’s care homes and secure homes and children’s residential special schools to the categories of provider that can order from the portal. Updated the order limits for GPs and pharmacies.

  41. Added dentists, orthodontists and optometrists to the categories of provider that are invited to order from the portal.

  42. Added hand hygiene to the list of items that can be ordered.

  43. Added pharmacies and larger social care providers to the categories of provider that are invited to order from the portal. Update to the amount of visors that GPs, domiciliary care providers and residential care homes can order. The customer service team opening hours are now 7am to 7pm.

  44. Visors can now be ordered from the portal.

  45. Updated order limits.

  46. GPs and small social care providers can now place orders multiple times per week within the limits set out in the guidance, instead of a singular order.

  47. Updated with increased order limits for type IIR masks.

  48. First published.