September 30, 2020 at 5:30 AM EDT
Britain’s government spent $729 million on ventilators. Thousands remain unused in a warehouse.
By Jennifer Hassan
LONDON — The British government spent almost $730 million on ventilators to help treat coronavirus patients, but thousands of the machines were not needed and are being stored in a warehouse, according to a report from National Audit Office, the independent public spending watchdog.
The investigation, which was published Wednesday, found that the government purchased 30,000 ventilators in an urgent bid to support the overloaded National Health Service during the height of the pandemic. As of September, just 2,150 of them have been used by the NHS.
The report notes that officials “acted with urgency” to save lives in British hospitals and says the government “prioritised speed over cost.” But as a result, it paid more than it would “in normal times” as global demand for the breathing devices soared, the report says.
In March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson appealed to the country’s top manufacturers to produce thousands of ventilators to help save lives, and by July, production teams in the UK Ventilator Challenge delivered: The NHS received 13,437 new machines, which more than doubled its stock.
But as a nationwide lockdown slowed the spread of infection and more hospitals were built to ease the pressure on overwhelmed NHS wards, the devices were not needed.
Authors of the study note that “the anticipated demand did not materialise” and say that the unused devices will be kept securely for future outbreaks and public health crises.
Britain has the highest death toll in Europe: More than 42,000 people have died from the virus.
Johnson is expected to hold a coronavirus briefing Wednesday following the country’s highest spike in daily infections since March, with 7,143 cases recorded in the past 24 hours.