Dragons’ Den-style challenge to destroy billions of pounds worth of unusable Covid PPE is launched by government
THE government has launched a Dragons’ Den-style challenge to get rid of billions of pounds worth of useless PPE, The Sun can reveal.
The Health Department has asked aspiring tycoons to come up with “innovative” ideas for binning millions of tax-payer funded medical items.
The best proposals will be invited to a Dragons' Den-style pitch day where a winner will be picked.
Ministers have spent a whopping £30,000 contracting an external company to run the challenge.
Commenting on the move, Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Taxpayers’ money should be treated with care, but Rishi Sunak chucked it around like he was on Million Pound Drop.
“That’s why voters are increasingly telling the Conservatives – I’m out.
“No wonder Tory MPs are fleeing for the jungle.”
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During the Covid pandemic the government wasted £8.7bn on PPE it didn’t need.
The cost of storing the items is estimated to be £500,000 a day, which is why ministers are keen to relieve the burden.
The Health Department has also been burning PPE at a cost of £35 million to the taxpayer.
It’s even auctioned off some of the unwanted items.
At one such auction 187,200 aprons were sold for just £250.
Mr Streeting added: “This level of economic incompetence will stick in the throat for the millions of people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We continue to sell, donate, repurpose and recycle excess PPE in the most cost-effective way, as well as seeking to recover costs from suppliers wherever possible to ensure taxpayer value for money – for example, donating over 207 million masks to schools and donating PPE to 58 countries around the world.
"We are also exploring innovative solutions to reprocess excess PPE into materials or new products that have further uses."
