Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the feasibility of requisitioning personal protective equipment from non-urgent use to meet the demands of frontline workers in the covid-19 response.

We have been giving the National Health Service and the social care sector everything they need to tackle this outbreak. We have delivered millions more items of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline staff over the last few days to hospitals, ambulance trusts, general practitioner practices, pharmacists, care homes, home care providers and hospices. The full weight of the Government is behind this effort and we are working closely with industry, the NHS, social care providers and the army to ensure the right equipment is delivered to the right people. This includes working with all partners to reprioritise PPE for use on the frontline.