What Is The Right Price For PPE?

–Ian Makgill, Founder, Spend Network

What’s the right price for PPE gowns and masks? With every Government in the world yanking hard on the same supply chains, prices have increased significantly. The UK Government has made it clear that they’re willing to do what they can to get the equipment they need to protect NHS staff.

We’ve written before about Covid-19 procurement, about how it shows that Government can work with unestablished suppliers when it wants to and about how the UK is outspending other EU countries to get PPE.

It is easy to suggest that spending big on PPE is being profligate. Contracts for hundreds of millions of dollars feel expensive and has led to a lot of criticism, but this doesn’t consider what might yet happen to the virus.

A government without enough PPE for a second wave of infections may discover that it isn’t even possible to get the equipment it needs. In that scenario, spending hundreds of millions will seem perfectly reasonable.

So before we judge too quickly, we may discover that spending big now to secure the right equipment for the next five years might turn out to be the bargain of the century.

To find out more about our analysis and research services, get in touch.