A family-run pest control company that employs just 16 people was awarded a £108million contract to supply the NHS with PPE at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, it has emerged.
PestFix, which has net assets of £18,000, received the large contract in April when the Government was under increasing pressure to meet the demand for PPE.
The revelation comes after Matt Hancock last night announced a plan to make face coverings compulsory in hospitals for all staff, visitors and outpatients from June 15.
However, a furious NHS boss insisted the decision was made ‘without any notice or consultation’, as other frontline workers slammed the ‘pointless’ announcement.
PestFix, a family-run pest control company that employs just 16 people, five of which are pictured, was awarded a £108million contract to supply the NHS with PPE at the height of the coronavirus pandemic
The firm, which has net assets of £18,000, received the large contract in April when the Government was under increasing pressure to meet the demand for PPE
Chairman of parliament’s public accounts committee Meg Hillier (pictured) said the committee and the National Audit Office would be scrutinising every contract handed out by the Government
Information collected by research company Tussell shows that the Government has spent a total of £340million on securing enough equipment to supply the NHS.
The Times reports that the chairman of parliament’s public accounts committee Meg Hillier said: ‘The need for PPE for frontline staff is urgent and critical but tendering outside the normal rules can be risky.’
She also said that the committee, alongside the National Audit Office would be scrutinising every contract handed out by the Government.
Normally PestFix supplies customers with supplies for pest control but received the £108million contract after responding to the Government’s call for help.
PestFix founder Dan England said: ‘Some of the bigger players that would normally be supplying this were perhaps not as quick to react or as dynamic.’
Mr England disputed the reported figure of £108million but did not say whether it was too high or too low.
The contract runs for 12 months.
In other developments to Britain’s coronavirus crisis today:
- Care homes are still waiting for Covid tests after weeks of asking – as government rushes out kits to all residences where people are all aged over 65
- Boris Johnson is drawing up a ‘Great Recovery Bill’ to slash red tape and help get the economy moving again
- Militant union chiefs vow to strike over government’s plan for volunteer ‘army’ to hand out free face masks on London Tubes
- Matt Hancock warns protesters not to gather at George Floyd demonstrations this weekend amid fears they are spreading the virus
- WHO finally says everyone should wear a mask while in shops, on public transit or anywhere you can’t keep six feet apart
- Prince William and Kate Middleton reveal they’ve been secretly answering crisis helpline calls and phoning people who are vulnerable during the pandemic
- Health Secretary says country could have localised restrictions after data reveals the crucial R rate is above 1 in North West and South West
The Health Secretary’s announcement that all staff must wear masks came after a similar move on Thursday, when it was revealed face coverings would be compulsory on public transport from the same day.
Mr Hancock said it was required to protect all hospital workers as NHS units gradually reopen their doors for procedures that were delayed by the coronavirus response.
But the announcement sparked fury from leaders in the health service, as Chris Hopson, CEO of NHS Providers accused the Government of ‘rushing’ decisions, which he said were ‘overly influenced by politics and the need to fill the space at the Downing Street press conferences’.
Speaking on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, he said: ‘Two major changes on the use of PPE and on visiting policy were announced late yesterday afternoon at the end of what, to be a frank, was a busy, difficult and hard week for our trust leaders, with absolutely no notice or consultation.
Medical and other staff will have to wear surgical masks at all times, the Health Secretary announced last night
Chris Hopson, CEO of NHS Providers, pictured, accused the Government of ‘rushing’ decisions which he said were ‘overly influenced by politics’
Mr Hopson tweeted last night that the change was announced ‘without any notice or consultation’
Militant union chiefs vow to strike over government’s plan for volunteer ‘army’ to hand out free face masks on London Tubes
Railway workers could strike over government plans for an ‘army’ of volunteers handing out free masks on the London Underground.
Wearing face coverings on public transport will be mandatory by June 15, but the RMT union says the volunteer policy, announced by transport secretary Grant Shapps, was made without consulting staff and is considering taking action in response.
A passenger, pictured yesterday, wears a face mask on the Central Line of the underground
More than a million masks will be distributed at the capital’s busiest Tube and bus stations on Monday before the mandatory rules kick on the following week.
‘We are going to have thousands of people from the British Transport Police, Network Rail, Transport for London and actually a whole army of volunteers from a volunteer organisation, who are going to be called journey makers, who will help to remind people,’ Mr Shapps said.
‘They will be wearing purple tabards and they will remind you to put your face covering on.’
In a letter earlier this week, the RMT said it was ‘furious’ that a ‘backroom deal’ had been done to recruit volunteers ‘without even so much as conversation with rail unions’.
The union’s general secretary Mick Cash said: ‘There is a real danger that the Government and the Rail Delivery Group are sending out a signal that as long as you cover your face you are safe to head back onto the tubes and trains regardless of whether you are an essential worker making an essential journey.
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash, pictured in 2016, says his union was not consulted over the proposals and is balloting members for strike action
‘It’s also clear that the Government and industry bosses are expecting our members to police this policy.
‘That will put over-stretched rail workers right in the front line once again and will leave them at risk of being abused, assaulted and spat at by aggressive passengers refusing to comply.’
Announcing the new rules earlier this week, Mr Shapps said face coverings will be a ‘condition of travel’ and failure to abide by the requirement could potentially lead to fines. Young children and people with disabilities will be exempt.
‘I think it’s the latest in a long line of announcements that have had a major impact on the way the NHS operates in which those organisations feel they have been left completely in the dark and they are then expected to make significant or complex operational changes either immediately or with very little notice.
‘The Government asks our trust leaders to professionally lead 800,000 staff and to interact with a million patients every 36 hours but they just can’t do that job properly if they’re on the end of rushed out Friday afternoon announcements that they actually know very little about.’
The Department of Health insists NHS England was fully aware of last night’s announcement and that bosses have more than a week to prepare, but Mr Hopson said many questions still remained.
Other hospital workers have also been left frustrated by the news, as they took to social media last night and this morning.
NHS staff member Maggie Mannifield wrote: ‘Nice to find out I have to wear a mask at work via a daily briefing…..been feeling worried about working in a hospital since March, and using the same toilets, canteen, stair rails, lifts etc and touching doors….the only way I would catch it is at work with doing nothing else.’
Another frontline worker, JoJo Quinn questioned why the rule had not been brought in sooner.
She said: ‘So I caught Covid in March and @MattHancock is now saying I have to wear a mask at work as I work in a hospital. Why did you not make this needed for all staff in march and perhaps i wouldn’t have caught it #TooLittleTooLate #Covid19UK’.
In another tweet, she added: ‘I have been working in non clinical area of my hospital for past 3 months. We are only allowed 3 in a room where usually was 5 as we work from home some days but wondering why I never had to wear a mask before now. Yet most of us caught Covid in our dept. It’s too late.’
A user under the name of The Witchy Woman shared a similar sentiment, writing: ‘I am now required to wear a mask at work (I’m in a hospital). Even at the peak of infection this wasn’t required. Seems pointless now. I have serious concerns, most don’t use single use masks but washable one and I doubt hygiene is up to scratch.’
Geriatrician Emily McNicholas, from South Yorkshire, added: ‘If we now have to wear a mask at all times in the hospital, how does eating in the canteen work??’
Meanwhile, railway workers are threatening to strike over government plans for an ‘army’ of volunteers handing out free masks on the London Underground.
The RMT union says the volunteer policy, announced by transport secretary Grant Shapps, was made without consulting staff and concerns were raised that there would be an expectation for them to police the new rules around wearing coverings while travelling.
More than a million masks will be distributed at the capital’s busiest Tube and bus stations on Monday before the mandatory rules kick on the following week.
Announcing the new rules earlier this week, Mr Shapps said face coverings will be a ‘condition of travel’ and failure to abide by the requirement could potentially lead to fines. Young children and people with disabilities will be exempt.
It comes as pressure grows on ministers to rethink proposals after the World Health Organisation (WHO) said last night that home-made jobs are unlikely to provide adequate protection against the virus, instead insisting on ‘at least three layers of different material’.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said people over the age of 60 or with underlying medical conditions should wear masks in situations where social distancing cannot be maintained.
The WHO had previously recommended that only health care workers, people with COVID-19 and their caregivers wear medical masks, noting a global shortage of supplies.
NHS workers took to social media to react to the announcement that masks must be worn at all times
Elsewhere, it has emerged that care homes are still waiting for coronavirus tests despite weeks of asking, while dozens more who sent off samples ended up receiving useless results.
The government pledged to offer testing for residents and staff at every care home for the over 65s by June 6 – today – and insists it is still on track to meet that target despite fresh concerns from industry bosses.
Almost half (43 per cent) of the 264 homes which responded to a survey by the National Care Forum (NCF) said they’d been given void and inconclusive results.
Another 12 per cent said they were still awaiting results while some 13 per cent had not even been given a home testing kit, as of Tuesday.
There have even been ‘hundreds’ of cases of results going missing, according to BBC Radio Four’s Today programme.
It comes as government data showed the number of people dying in care homes soared by 61 per cent during March and April as the Covid-19 outbreak gripped England and Wales.
Mr Hancock also revealed he had donated blood plasma to an antibody trial in London today (pictured)
ONS data shows a large spike in the number of people dying in care homes in April, the peak of Britain’s coronavirus crisis, as thousands fewer people died in hospitals during that time
Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed hospital deaths fell by 21 per cent between March 7 and May 1, while they rose 43 per cent in private homes.
In a first-of-its-kind report, statisticians said undiagnosed cases were a ‘likely explanation’ for many of the 13,000 excess deaths not directly linked to Covid-19.
But it also acknowledged that thousands of people may have avoided getting medical help out of fear of catching the virus or adding extra strain to an already over-stretched NHS.
Last month it emerged that the Government had awarded £1billion of state contracts to companies without public tender.
Companies including Randox Laboratories and US-run Brake Bros were among the companies to have been handed contracts.
The Government fast-tracked the rules on awarding state contracts so that they didn’t have to allow a time period for other companies to bid for the work.
The contracts included a voucher scheme for children for free school meals, providing food boxes for vulnerable people and coronavirus testing services.
At least 177 contracts have been handed to companies by the government to deal with the pandemic.
115 of those contracts were awarded under the fast-track route.