Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that pharmacies have a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment.

The Department is working to provide community pharmacies with personal protective equipment (PPE). In March we delivered PPE to around 11,500 pharmacies in England, with a further supply in July delivered to pharmacies in Leicester, which were affected by the local lockdown. Further supplies of PPE can be ordered through the wholesalers and distributor networks that supply to community pharmacies. Those pharmacies who are critically short of PPE, should phone the National Supply Distribution Response on 0800 915 9964 for an urgent delivery.

From 3 August, all community pharmacies were invited to register with the PPE portal, where they can order up to a set amount of PPE per week. Pharmacies are encouraged to register promptly for the PPE portal, to ensure they can order emergency PPE from a central inventory. Pharmacies can contact the Department’s customer services team on 0800 876 6802 if they have any queries or are struggling to register with the portal. Information on what items are available for this sector and size are available on the Department’s Guidance at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ppe-portal-how-to-order-emergency-personal-protective-equipment