Health chiefs splashed thousands of fancy taps as NHS calls for pandemic PPE

Exclusive:

Health Secretary Will Quince has confirmed the Department of Health has spent £15,300 on up to 14 lavish washing and drying machines strong from the first Covid lockdown, with Labor branding 'one rule for them and another for everyone else'

NHS staff resorted to wearing bin bags as they did not have enough PPE

The government spent over £15,000 on fancy new taps as NHS workers used bin bags for PPE and care homes struggled to get Covid tests.

Expensive washing and drying machines were installed at the Department of Health headquarters in April 2020, with the expense described as “sickening” by a Labor Party leader.

While 14 lavish taps costing over £1,000 each were fitted, doctors and nurses had to make do with an improvised kit due to a lack of protective equipment.

Details were revealed in a written statement from Health Minister Will Quince.

Shadow Labor Attorney General Emily Thornberry said: 'It is sickening to find that, while carers and NHS staff have had to use bin bags as PPE, Matt Hancock has focused on putting the best quality kit in one's own office bathrooms.

Emily Thornberry called the purchase "sickening" (

Picture:

Getty Images)

"Tory ministers really think it's one rule for them and another for everyone else.

"But after everything we found out in the last week, it will take more than a thousand pound faucet to wash Matt Hancock's hands."

Responding to a written question from Ms Thornberry, Mr Quince said: 'There are 14 Dyson washers and dryers installed in the county area.

"Installation of new washing and drying facilities within the county estate took place in April 2020 at a cost of £15,368."

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) says it is trying to move a...