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Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Medical PPE found dumped in UK's New Forest

A "mountain" of unused medical PPE has been discovered dumped next to a nature reserve in Hampshire, UK, possibly some of the £15 Billion worth of unusable PPE bought by the Department for Health and Social Care during the Covid pandemic. 

‘Mountain’ of unused PPE dumped in nature reserve | The Telegraph - Ewan Somerville:

18 June 18, 2023 - "Thousands of packs of personal protective equipment (PPE) have been found dumped in a mountainous heap in the New Forest. Pictures show hoards of aprons and suspected face masks left in a giant pile in the town of Calmore, bordering the Testwood Lakes Nature Reserve and AFC Totton Football Club. 

"The 'large-scale' discovery was made public at a Hampshire County Council (HCC) meeting, where councillors said they reacted with 'horror' and are demanding answers, though it is not yet known if the items are linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"During the pandemic, the Department for Health and Social Care spent £15 billion [$25 Billion CDN] on PPE that proved unusable and is now being burned, including masks and gowns for NHS staff, prompting Whitehall’s spending watchdog to condemn the 'extraordinary waste'. 

"Now, a report from the HCC’s regulatory committee has revealed that the discovery was made following an investigation by New Forest District Council into use of land at Little Testwood Farm Caravan Park, Hants. The report said: 

'Following their own investigations into the use of land as a caravan park, New Forest District Council reported the large-scale storage of packs of old PPE. It became apparent that thousands of packs of medical aprons had been dumped on the land with no obvious signs that they were being protected or stored for some future use. The concern is that they have been dumped with no intention of removal to a proper facility'....

"The council has now launched an 'enforcement activity' with the Environment Agency, police and New Forest District Council to establish who is responsible and 'whether it was discarded by a Health Trust as substandard during the Covid procurement'....

"A spokesman for the Environment Agency confirmed its officials were due to visit the site next week, adding: 'We are unable to comment further in order to not prejudice any investigations or subsequent enforcement decisions.'"

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/18/ppe-covid-mountain-new-forest-hampshire-abandoned/

Fury over the PPE graveyard | MadNews TV | June 18, 2023 

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