Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what supply chains for personal protective equipment are available to independent care homes that are not able to be part of NHS procurement channels.

We are working around the clock to give the social care sector and wider National Health Service the equipment and support they need to tackle this outbreak.

We have made personal protective equipment (PPE) available to designated wholesalers for onward sale to social care providers and delivered further PPE to local resilience forums (LRFs) to help them respond to urgent local spikes in need across the adult social care system and some other front-line services, where providers are unable to access PPE through their usual, or dedicated wholesaler routes.

The National Supply Disruption Response operates a 24-hour helpline that can also respond to emergency PPE requests.

Finally, we are rolling out a PPE Portal to help primary and social care providers to order critical PPE. This been tested with the sector and is now being scaled up nationally over the coming weeks. During this phase of the roll-out, general practitioners, small residential social care services (care homes with 24 beds or fewer), and small domiciliary care providers will be invited to register on the portal.

The full weight of the Government is behind this effort and we are working closely with industry, social care providers, the NHS, and the army to ensure the right equipment continues to be delivered.