Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether face masks produced for the NHS by (1) PestFix, and (2) Ayanda Capital, are compliant with Health and Safety Executive safety standards; whether surgical gowns manufactured by (a) PestFix, and (b) PPEMedpro, meet the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority standards; how much these products cost; what procedures were used for their purchase; and what happened to these products after delivery.

Pestfix, Ayanda Capital and PPEMedpro are suppliers and not producers or manufacturers.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency assessed the Type IIR masks supplied by Pestfix and Ayanda and approved the products for release. So far, around 43 million of these masks have been distributed.

Pestfix and Ayanda supplied FFP2 masks with ear loops. This was compliant with the regulatory standard and specifications at the time of contract. It was subsequently determined that ear loops, as opposed to head loops, were not acceptable for use in the National Health Service (NHS). As a result, when the Health and Safety Executive assessed the FFP2 masks supplied by Pestfix and Ayanda, they failed for use in the NHS because they have ear loops rather than head loops. We are looking at making these masks available for overseas markets.

Pestfix and PPEMedpro provided surgical gowns. In both cases these were not approved and no stock was distributed. Whilst the supplies come from different manufacturers all items are “single wrapped sterile surgical gowns”, which cannot be used within the United Kingdom operating theatres, due to sterility concerns around the single wrap. These products could potentially be made available for sale to overseas markets.

Any decisions on individual contracts are regarded as commercially sensitive information, therefore the department is unable to release information in relation to costs and procedures.