Corona and you!
- Thread starter wil
- Start date
Turns out the chronic lack of PPE supplies is due to two major factors:
One is speculative on my part — The UK consistently ignored invitations from the EU to join with a Euro-wide purchase plan to buy PPE. Ministers feigned ignorance of the EU offer, whereas they simply ignored the emails... Not sure if this has anything to do with the central UK resource for PPE is run by an American company, mired in scandal over a storage facility in Liverpool. The company was sold in the middle of the crisis by its US owners to another US company, and subsequently possibly to a French company ...
The other, and the key factor, is that the Govt outsourced the PPE purchasing process to Deloitte. The deal, and the fee to Deloitte for managing the 'fast-track distribution scheme' is secret. But this much has come to light:
"Deloitte have been useless," says Kate Hills, the founder of Make It British, which promotes brands that manufacture in the UK. "They have been an unnecessary step in the process, another middle man only focused on price."
Deloitte said that it is involved in reviewing British manufacturers who could contribute at scale to PPE production but is not involved in commercial negotiations or awarding contracts.
A Deloitte crisis cell was established in the Cabinet Office to deal with PPE procurement for NHS staff. (Deloitte has particularly strong links with the Cabinet Office.) Before April was out, they'd received 8,000 emails offering help. They received an automated response which said:
“We will be back in contact shortly to establish more information around the potential opportunity.”
And then silence ... Deloitte were simply overwhelmed.
A spokesperson at the British Textile Consortium said neither the Cabinet Office nor Deloitte possessed sufficient knowledge of the British textile industry. So why was Deloitte chosen to manage the process if they had no expertise in the field?
"Anyone who knew the industry could have scanned the list in two hours and said who to use," the BTC spokesperson said. "There was a complete lack of understanding about what the UK industry is."
This is yet another story of a government project being handed over to an outsourcing company, like Deloitte, which has failed to deliver and which lacks any transparency
Rachel Reeves, Shadow Cabinet Minister
The British government has struggled to source PPE for frontline NHS staff. Competing in a crowded international market has proved challenging, and some of the equipment sourced from production giants like China and Turkey has proved inadequate.
Many British textile firms waited weeks even for a reply to their offers of help. "There was a lot of wasted time and dead-ends, we went round in circles and were directed to more forms," (Amplebox, Leicester) Cooper & Stollbrand could produce 100,000 gowns per week. The offer to help was "passed around" for two months. He is still waiting for a contract.
Meanwhile, Deloitte-approved purchases of PPE from Turkey and China have been rejected for not meeting the required safety standard.
Meanwhile, it's an outsourcing bonanza for the major players
International consultancies have been integrally involved in some of the most controversial aspects of the Govt COVID-19 response. The contracts did not go out to tender, nor have they been published.
Deloitte was contracted by recruited by the Department of Health and Social Care to help create a network of up to fifty testing facilities around the UK. The process was much criticised, with hospital bosses wanting to oust the firm last month due to poor performance.
+++
In short, while we might be suffering an economic crisis, big corporates are cashing in, and doing so without the usual oversight because of emergency measures brought in by the Govt which does not have to report what contracts have been awarded to whom and for how much, and indeed such information is regarded as 'secret', for reasons I for one cannot fathom.
Company's who have been told they'll receive loans on Govt schemes find the banks are very, very reluctant to hand over the money ...
One is speculative on my part — The UK consistently ignored invitations from the EU to join with a Euro-wide purchase plan to buy PPE. Ministers feigned ignorance of the EU offer, whereas they simply ignored the emails... Not sure if this has anything to do with the central UK resource for PPE is run by an American company, mired in scandal over a storage facility in Liverpool. The company was sold in the middle of the crisis by its US owners to another US company, and subsequently possibly to a French company ...
The other, and the key factor, is that the Govt outsourced the PPE purchasing process to Deloitte. The deal, and the fee to Deloitte for managing the 'fast-track distribution scheme' is secret. But this much has come to light:
"Deloitte have been useless," says Kate Hills, the founder of Make It British, which promotes brands that manufacture in the UK. "They have been an unnecessary step in the process, another middle man only focused on price."
Deloitte said that it is involved in reviewing British manufacturers who could contribute at scale to PPE production but is not involved in commercial negotiations or awarding contracts.
A Deloitte crisis cell was established in the Cabinet Office to deal with PPE procurement for NHS staff. (Deloitte has particularly strong links with the Cabinet Office.) Before April was out, they'd received 8,000 emails offering help. They received an automated response which said:
“We will be back in contact shortly to establish more information around the potential opportunity.”
And then silence ... Deloitte were simply overwhelmed.
A spokesperson at the British Textile Consortium said neither the Cabinet Office nor Deloitte possessed sufficient knowledge of the British textile industry. So why was Deloitte chosen to manage the process if they had no expertise in the field?
"Anyone who knew the industry could have scanned the list in two hours and said who to use," the BTC spokesperson said. "There was a complete lack of understanding about what the UK industry is."
This is yet another story of a government project being handed over to an outsourcing company, like Deloitte, which has failed to deliver and which lacks any transparency
Rachel Reeves, Shadow Cabinet Minister
The British government has struggled to source PPE for frontline NHS staff. Competing in a crowded international market has proved challenging, and some of the equipment sourced from production giants like China and Turkey has proved inadequate.
Many British textile firms waited weeks even for a reply to their offers of help. "There was a lot of wasted time and dead-ends, we went round in circles and were directed to more forms," (Amplebox, Leicester) Cooper & Stollbrand could produce 100,000 gowns per week. The offer to help was "passed around" for two months. He is still waiting for a contract.
Meanwhile, Deloitte-approved purchases of PPE from Turkey and China have been rejected for not meeting the required safety standard.
Meanwhile, it's an outsourcing bonanza for the major players
International consultancies have been integrally involved in some of the most controversial aspects of the Govt COVID-19 response. The contracts did not go out to tender, nor have they been published.
Deloitte was contracted by recruited by the Department of Health and Social Care to help create a network of up to fifty testing facilities around the UK. The process was much criticised, with hospital bosses wanting to oust the firm last month due to poor performance.
+++
In short, while we might be suffering an economic crisis, big corporates are cashing in, and doing so without the usual oversight because of emergency measures brought in by the Govt which does not have to report what contracts have been awarded to whom and for how much, and indeed such information is regarded as 'secret', for reasons I for one cannot fathom.
Company's who have been told they'll receive loans on Govt schemes find the banks are very, very reluctant to hand over the money ...
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru.
India has the same problem. Testing kits were outsourced from China and they proved defective. Fortunately, we had not made any payment. The fault was with the nodal agency, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Crisis / Emergency times are when companies make money.
There are more cars on the roads here now and more people walking around, but people keep stepping out into the road to keep social distancing, so there's more chance of ending up in hospital being hit by a car than from corona, lol
here Covid is now the third cause of death after heart disease and Cancer, ahead of diabetes, the flu for reference is 8th...and auto accidents are below that.
Deaths per million per country (May 16)
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
1Belgium: 784
2 Spain: 587
3 Italy: 523
4 UK: 511
9 USA: 327
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
1Belgium: 784
2 Spain: 587
3 Italy: 523
4 UK: 511
9 USA: 327
Last edited:
Trump is insisting more testing will lead to more data showing a more.accurate representation of the reality.
Florida's governor says it doesn't matter if they had covid and it put them in the hospital on a ventilator, if they had underlying conditions like heart disease, COPD, diabetes. Asthma etc...that should be the listed cause of death...
This pandemic is partisan and economic, the oligarchies and dictators weighing lives against stock markets, GDP.and corporate profits.
Florida's governor says it doesn't matter if they had covid and it put them in the hospital on a ventilator, if they had underlying conditions like heart disease, COPD, diabetes. Asthma etc...that should be the listed cause of death...
This pandemic is partisan and economic, the oligarchies and dictators weighing lives against stock markets, GDP.and corporate profits.
Aussie Thoughts
Just my 2 cents
I never knew buffalo's were into catering! -
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru.
Today is the last day of Lock-down #3 (55 days in all). But that is not the end of it. We may get some relaxation on offices and factories, but perhaps none for social life. Delhi is in the red zone with 5,000+ active cases and 123 deaths. I think we will get 15 more days or so of lock-down #4.
India: Active cases 53035, Deaths 2,752
India: Active cases 53035, Deaths 2,752
I hope it doesn't flare worse on you guys, for a.dense population who has a significant number of.world travelers you are battling this quite well.
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru.
Yes, seems so. But the numbers are rising. Keeping fingers crossed. Students got the summer holidays till end of June. But will they remain jailed in homes? No prospect of any holiday travel.
In a country one third your size we are nearing 90k dead and starting to open up....err....yay?!?!
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru.
24% to be exact. India 1380 m, US 331 m.
When India had that kind of population (around 1925), people started saying that we have 330 m Gods and Goddesses.
(The 1921 Census of British India shows 69 million Muslims, 217 million Hindus out of a total population of 316 million)
But I am not at all confident of future. Truly worried for children. It has now been understood that we will need to live with Corona virus.
Travelers, Indians and international; and tens of thousand employed outside India. We are getting them back home but they pose a risk.
And if it gets me, I am a goner. (not that it worries me. Que Sera Sera!)
When India had that kind of population (around 1925), people started saying that we have 330 m Gods and Goddesses.
(The 1921 Census of British India shows 69 million Muslims, 217 million Hindus out of a total population of 316 million)
But I am not at all confident of future. Truly worried for children. It has now been understood that we will need to live with Corona virus.
Travelers, Indians and international; and tens of thousand employed outside India. We are getting them back home but they pose a risk.
And if it gets me, I am a goner.
(not that it worries me. Que Sera Sera!)
Last edited:
Aint that the truth. All of it...worried the kids will not have the life we had...sad that others did not have the life we had...And if it gets me, I am a goner.
But surely not fearing the end