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FOI release

FOI – 000340 Storage of PPE (HTML)

Published on 20 January 2023

Date received - 20 December 2022 | Date responded - 20 January 2023

Request

Can you tell me how much you spent in 2020/21; 2021/22 and from April 1, 2022 to the present day on storing PPE?

Can you tell me how many tonnes of PPE you had in storage for the above dates?

Can you tell me what proportion of PPE now in storage is no longer useable/out of date?

Response

I refer to your freedom of information request that we received on 20 December 2022. I can advise you that we have now completed the search of our records and can provide you with the following information:

Can you tell me how much you spent in 2020/21; 2021/22 and from April 1, 2022 to the present day on storing PPE?

2020/21 - £1.1m, 2021/22 - £5.3m, 01 April 2022 until present date - £3.4m. These figures are based on the annual rental costs of the pandemic warehouses plus external storage costs.

Can you tell me how many tonnes of PPE you had in storage for the above dates?

Under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002 (FOISA), an organisation does not have to provide the information if it does not hold that information. NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) does not hold any information in relation to the weights of PPE held in storage for 2020 until present. This was not something that NSS recorded, as it was identified as not needed.

Can you tell me what proportion of PPE now in storage is no longer useable/out of date?

PPE that is held in storage, which is now no longer usable, is 0.39% by value. This was measured by taking the cost of the products at their buy-in price, and calculating the percentage which has fallen into the criteria of being out of date or not usable.

I trust you will find the information of assistance and if you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of how we have dealt with your request, you can make representations to us asking us to review the handling of your request.

If you require any further information, please contact the Head of Information and Cyber Security, Digital and Security, within 40 working days of the date of this correspondence.

Contact

Email: nss.foi@nhs.scot

Address

NHS National Services Scotland Headquarters, Gyle Square, 1 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 9EB

If after a review you are still unhappy, you also have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner, who can be contacted at Kinburn Castle, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS, or via their application form.

National Services Scotland (NSS) is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. You can view all FOI responses within our FOI Publications repository.