Experimental statistics – personal protective equipment distributed for use by health and social care services in England: quarterly update to 31 March 2023
Published 13 April 2023
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2023
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/ppe-distribution-england-quarterly-update-to-31-march-2023/experimental-statistics-personal-protective-equipment-distributed-for-use-by-health-and-social-care-services-in-england-quarterly-update-to-31-marc
These statistics show the latest number of personal protective equipment (PPE) items which have been distributed by the government, for use by health and social care services in England.
In publishing this data, we aim to provide a summary for ministers, policy makers, external stakeholders and the public on PPE items distributed.
e-Portal order data is used as the sole data source for all e-Portal data throughout this publication.
After review, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has decided that this is the final publication of PPE distribution statistics (England).
The decision was made because the current policy to provide free PPE to all health, social care and public sector workers will change after 31 March 2023.
From 1 April 2023 PPE will be provided until the DHSC’s stocks are depleted or until the end of March 2024 (whichever is sooner). Therefore, reporting these numbers would not be comparable to previous releases and so would have limited relevance and usefulness for users.
Main points
From 25 February 2020 to 31 March 2023, DHSC distributed 27.1 billion items of PPE, predominantly for use by health and social care services in England.
In the first full year of operations (from 25 February 2020 to 24 February 2021), 8.49 billion items of PPE were distributed predominantly for use by health and social care services in England.
This compares with approximately 2.04 billion items distributed between 1 January and 31 December 2019 to all NHS trusts and some social care organisations. This figure is a partial snapshot of the PPE used in the system before the COVID-19 pandemic. The NHS Supply Chain has since been expanded to 58,000 different settings, including care homes, hospices and community care organisations, many of which use the e-Portal to order PPE.
Between 1 January to 31 March 2023, DHSC distributed 1.89 billion PPE items for use by health and social care services in England. These are distributed through the PPE Dedicated Supply Channel, NHS Supply Chain and other routes (see Table 1 for more details).
PPE was first ordered through the e-Portal on 9 April 2020. From 9 April 2020 to 31 March 2023, 10.6 billion PPE items have been ordered through the e-Portal. - Between 1 January to 31 March 2023, 978 million PPE items have been ordered through the e-Portal.
Organisations may procure additional PPE independently of the PPE programme. Any additional PPE is not included in this data.
PPE distribution updates
In the tables below all items are counted individually unless specified. In particular:
- gloves are counted singly, not as pairs. Clinical procedures may use 1, 2 or 4 gloves at a time
- hand hygiene is now being consistently reported in litres. Hand hygiene products include hand wash and alcohol-based hand sanitiser
Table 1 reports the PPE distribution for the latest 3 calendar months and the total since the start of the PPE programme. The cumulative total is reported as a total for the first year of operation (25 February 2020 to 24 February 2021) and a total for the whole period since 25 February 2020.
Table 1: number of PPE items distributed, predominantly for use by health and social care services in England, by item
| PPE item | 1 Jan 2023 to 31 Jan 2023 | 1 Feb 2023 to 28 Feb 2023 | 1 Mar 2023 to 31 Mar 2023 | Cumulative total 25 Feb 2020 to 31 Mar 2023 | Full year total 25 Feb 2020 to 24 Feb 2021 | 2019 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aprons | 48,875,000 | 47,682,000 | 67,588,000 | 3,153,587,000 | 1,220,676,000 | 161,632,000 |
| Body bags | 10,000 | 4,000 | 7,000 | 407,000 | 218,000 | 85,000 |
| Clinical waste bags | 2,101,000 | 1,911,000 | 2,312,000 | 112,220,000 | 65,221,000 | 49,813,000 |
| Coveralls | 1,000 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 1,885,000 | 1,161,000 | 0 |
| Eye protectors | 1,320,000 | 932,000 | 1,167,000 | 176,486,000 | 110,042,000 | 482,000 |
| Face mask FFP2 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 11,000 | 11,520,000 | 9,588,000 | 523,000 |
| Face mask FFP3 | 1,439,000 | 697,000 | 1,159,000 | 158,364,000 | 76,786,000 | 2,810,000 |
| Face mask II | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57,265,000 | 11,221,000 | 0 |
| Face mask IIR | 69,568,000 | 57,557,000 | 66,213,000 | 4,053,616,000 | 1,240,624,000 | 18,532,000 |
| Face mask other | 900 | 0 | 0 | 264,000 | 263,000 | 0 |
| Face mask transparent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 380,000 | 363,000 | 0 |
| Fit testing | 2,000 | 4,000 | 3,000 | 314,000 | 166,000 | 7,000 |
| General purpose detergent | 239,000 | 2,138,000 | 3,330,000 | 85,517,000 | 61,325,000 | 37,700,000 |
| Gloves | 495,223,000 | 461,540,000 | 554,153,000 | 18,566,590,000 | 5,374,940,000 | 1,763,164,000 |
| Gowns | 848,000 | 632,000 | 976,000 | 95,289,000 | 38,801,000 | 749,000 |
| Hand hygiene | 608,000 | 489,000 | 752,000 | 21,419,000 | 7,478,000 | 2,048,000 |
| Swabs | 1,380,000 | 847,000 | 901,000 | 610,138,000 | 273,435,000 | 1,006,000 |
| Total | 621,623,000 | 574,440,000 | 698,574,000 | 27,105,260,000 | 8,492,307,000 | 2,038,550,000 |
The data reported in Table 1 include all types of PPE, items that are critical for infection control[footnote 1],[footnote 2] and a small number of transparent masks[footnote 3]. These items were made available through NHS Supply Chain during the COVID-19 pandemic because there was a significant increase in usage. Some of these items were not available through NHS Supply Chain in 2019. All numbers in Table 1 are rounded to the nearest thousand, unless they are less than 1,000 in which case they are rounded to the nearest hundred. Due to rounding, the table totals may not equal the sum of the columns.
PPE distributed by distribution channel
The PPE programme distributes some PPE directly, such as to NHS hospitals. Alternative distribution channels are available for other sectors in health and social care, particularly when PPE requirements are smaller. The total statistics reported include PPE delivered using all these channels, which include:
- local resilience forums (LRFs). These enabled the local distribution of PPE. They are still active in many areas but have been replaced by local authorities in some parts of England
- local authorities (LAs). In areas where the LRFs stood down on 14 September 2020, the LA has taken responsibility for distribution of PPE
- designated wholesalers. These were able to source PPE from the programme for onward distribution. Each wholesaler typically supports a given group of care providers such as GPs, social care providers, community pharmacies, or dentists. Data about wholesalers has been reported by the date of delivery to the wholesaler. PPE has not been distributed to wholesalers since 24 January 2021 by DHSC
- the e-Portal. This is an on-line ordering system which is a part of the PPE programme, described in greater detail below.
Table 2: number of PPE items distributed using the channels described
| Distribution channel | Total number of items of PPE from 25 Feb 2020 to 31 Mar 2023, at least |
|---|---|
| LRF | 429 million |
| Local authorities | 208 million |
| Wholesalers serving GPs | 40 million |
| Wholesalers serving adult social care | 258 million |
| Wholesalers serving community pharmacies | 1.2 million |
| Wholesalers serving dentists | 38 million |
| Wholesalers total | 337 million |
| e-Portal | 10.6 billion |
PPE distribution by sector
Distribution by the e-Portal
The e-Portal provides PPE to non-acute settings, predominantly primary care and social care providers. An eligible user is invited to register an account on the e-Portal and is then able to order PPE regularly, up to a given limit, using that account.
Table 3: Key dates in e-Portal operations
| Date | e-Portal developments |
|---|---|
| April 2020 | The e-Portal began operating. |
| June 2020 | By the end of this month, the majority of eligible GPs and smaller adult social care providers (both domiciliary and residential) were able to register on the e-Portal. |
| August 2020 | Further sectors in both primary care and social care were invited to register. |
| September 2020 | A broader range of sectors registered, more types of PPE available using the e-Portal, and the order limits on accounts were adjusted,for example to reflect updated government guidance on PPE use. |
| June 2021 | Public services overseen by other government departments (OGDs) including the Police, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the Home Office, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have been invited to register. |
| July 2021 | Local authorities, LRFs and independent sector providers were invited to register. Independent sector providers include providers who undertake NHS contracts for diagnostic and therapeutic work and mental health providers. |
| September 2021 | Vaccination centres were invited to register. |
| January 2022 | A new platform (‘Portal 2.0’) is replacing the PPE ‘e-Portal’ for eligible user groups (predominantly primary care and social care but also the public sector more broadly). User testing and a ‘soft launch’ for the new platform commenced in January 2021, thereby beginning a phased user transfer from the current e-Portal to the new systems. Some parallel running of the 2 platforms is expected. These published statistics on distribution of COVID-19 PPE and related items reflect distribution through both platforms. |
| February 2022 | The new platform (‘Portal 2.0’) continues to operate. These published distribution statistics reflect items distributed through both the e-Portal and Portal 2.0, for user groups (predominantly primary care and social care but also the public sector more broadly, for example) eligible to use these systems. |
| April 2022 | The original e-Portal closed on 26th April. All users who were registered on the platform have now been moved across to the new, replacement PPE Portal, where they can access features such as viewing their order limits, accessing order history and tracking an order. Hospices have now been transitioned onto e-Portal and this is now their main PPE distribution route. The increase in orders from this group in Table 4 compared to the previous published value reflects this. |
| February 2023 | Operational improvements have allowed us to identify the customer type of some previously un-identified customers. This includes some customers we have aggregated into ‘Other acute settings’, which includes private or community hospitals and health clinics. |
| April 2023 | In line with DHSC’s policy announcement the e-portal will continue to distribute PPE for free, until the department’s stocks are depleted or until the end of March 2024, whichever is sooner. |
The total amount of PPE which is provided through the e-Portal will be influenced by both the number of accounts registered and the amount which each account orders.
Registration is voluntary: on 31 March 2023, there were 52,524 providers registered on the e-Portal, out of 68,701 invited to register.
Registration on the e-Portal includes information about each account holder. Table 4 reports the sector of the account holder for PPE items ordered on the e-Portal in the latest calendar month, and the total since the first order on the e-Portal, on 9 April 2020.
Table 4: number of PPE items ordered using the e-Portal, by sector [footnote 4][footnote 5]
| Sector | 1 Jan 2023 to 31 Jan 2023 | 1 Feb 2023 to 28 Feb 2023 | 1 Mar 2023 to 31 Mar 2023 | Total PPE items ordered (9 Apr 2020 to 31 Mar 2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult domiciliary care | 96,159,000 | 86,463,000 | 113,379,000 | 3,173,214,000 |
| Adult residential care | 140,001,000 | 127,819,000 | 164,421,000 | 4,819,640,000 |
| Children’s homes | 75,000 | 49,000 | 87,000 | 6,337,000 |
| Children’s residential and non-residential special schools | 253,000 | 165,000 | 258,000 | 8,221,000 |
| Dentists and orthodontists | 48,565,000 | 44,591,000 | 55,962,000 | 1,473,987,000 |
| Drug and alcohol services (community and residential) | 119,000 | 132,000 | 156,000 | 6,776,000 |
| GPs | 16,010,000 | 13,791,000 | 17,573,000 | 522,297,000 |
| Hospices | 2,120,000 | 1,972,000 | 2,358,000 | 20,710,000 |
| Independent sector providers | 1,197,000 | 1,171,000 | 1,360,000 | 24,227,000 |
| Local authorities and LRFs | 7,773,000 | 5,681,000 | 7,580,000 | 155,946,000 |
| Optometrists | 965,000 | 738,000 | 968,000 | 87,642,000 |
| Other government departments | 2,183,000 | 1,384,000 | 1,385,000 | 36,395,000 |
| Pharmacies | 1,163,000 | 737,000 | 1,033,000 | 84,637,000 |
| Umbrella organisations | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9,672,000 |
| Vaccination centres | 267,000 | 129,000 | 354,000 | 11,360,000 |
| Other acute settings | 0 | 310,000 | 5,228,000 | 5,538,000 |
| Other | 2,078,000 | 1,202,000 | 367,000 | 192,796,000 |
| Total | 318,929,000 | 286,334,000 | 372,467,000 | 10,639,394,000 |
All numbers in Table 4 are rounded to the nearest thousand. Due to rounding, the table totals may not equal the sum of the columns.
Umbrella organisations are predominantly adult domiciliary care, or adult residential care. The category ‘Other’ includes orders where the sector of the account holder is not noted.
Operational improvements have allowed us to identify the customer type of some previously un-identified customers. This includes some customers we have aggregated into ‘Other acute settings’, which includes private or community hospitals and health clinics. These customers were all previously categorised as ‘Other’.
The e-Portal makes available a selection of different types of PPE. The total orders of PPE by sector and by item type are included in the accompanying tables. The distribution of PPE via the e-Portal will not represent the total PPE provided to a sector through the lifetime of the programme. Organisations which join the e-Portal are likely to have previously procured PPE using other distribution channels. Organisations may also procure PPE independently of the PPE programme. Any additional PPE is not included in this data, which shows only the PPE ordered using the e-Portal.
Distribution to other sectors
PPE has been supplied predominantly for use by health and social care services in England. A small amount has been made available to other sectors, including:
- 82 million items of PPE to public services overseen by other government departments and organisations. This includes 36 million items distributed via the e-Portal
- over 13 million items of PPE provided to the devolved administrations between April and June 2020[footnote 6]. This data has been ratified by the devolved administrations
- a small proportion of items distributed to Crown Dependencies
Measuring the data
How the data were collected
The data were collected from management information provided by Supply Chain Coordination Limited (NHS Supply Chain) since 25 February 2020. DHSC receives these data daily from NHS Supply Chain which, since April 2020, have been compiled by Clipper Logistics, who have distributed all PPE since April 2020.
Prior to April 2020 some items were distributed from the NHS Supply Chain Regional Distribution Centres. Since April 2020 all products are distributed by Clipper and pass through a central warehouse in Daventry before delivery.
Data for the whole programme are reported by the date of delivery, which covers all PPE items delivered within a 24-hour window from 2am on the date in question up to 2am the next day. Some organisations subsequently further distribute the PPE. For these organisations, the date used is the date of delivery from DHSC to the organisation and not the date of subsequent delivery to the end user.
Items are sometimes recalled, such as when they are faulty or do not meet set criteria. The figures presented are a combination of the number of PPE items distributed minus those recalled and credits for stock that was processed through the system but unfulfilled. Consequently, some days have negative delivery of items. Some items which have been recalled may still feature in the data as they are yet to be removed.
The data are not a measure of PPE use as some items may not be used, while reusable items may be used multiple times.
Clipper Logistics delivers PPE from the main PPE warehouses to the e-Portal warehouses, from which the e-Portal team process the e-Portal orders before delivery. The total delivery data from Clipper reports items by the date of delivery to the e-Portal warehouses. In contrast, the e-Portal data uses the calendar date the order was placed on the e-Portal. Care should be taken when interpreting the relative dates of Clipper delivery and e-Portal orders.
The figures in this bulletin may differ from those previously quoted due to differences in start date and inclusion of items in the definition of PPE.
Coverage
The data cover PPE distributed predominantly for use by health and social care services in England. From 1 February 2022 PPE removed from stock for disposal, donation or sale has been removed from the distribution statistics.
The data include deliveries from the PPE Dedicated Supply Channel to organisations such as NHS trusts, National Supply Distribution Response, local resilience forums, local authorities and wholesalers for onward distribution and use by health and social care providers and other users of the e-Portal. These organisations may also procure PPE through other routes, so these data do not constitute all PPE available to NHS trusts, social care and primary care providers.
Quality
These statistics have been put together by DHSC with advice from NHS Supply Chain and the Office for National Statistics on this approach.
More information on quality and how this publication adheres to the Code of Practice for Statistics is available in the statement of compliance.
Future development
The publication of PPE distribution statistics (England) ended on 13 April 2023.
The timeline below provides an indication of key developments in DHSC’s understanding of this data.
Table 5: key dates in DHSC’s reporting of PPE deliveries data
| Date range | Developments in data understanding |
|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2020 to 24 Feb 2020 | Data on these deliveries were collected on an ad hoc basis. Data quality is uncertain |
| 25 Feb 2020 | Introduction of the current reporting system for data on distributions of PPE. |
| 25 Feb 2020 to Jun 2020 | Regular and rigorous quality checks are implemented as understanding of the data grows. Timeliness of the data improves as frequency of updates increases to 7 days per week. |
| 30 Jun 2020 | Publication of the DHSC’s first experimental statistics on distributions of PPE. High-level data is now well understood and is subject to regular and rigorous quality checks. |
| 7 Feb 2021 | Reporting of LRF and local authority PPE distribution data was updated to include ad hoc deliveries, and deliveries to the London LRF from 14 September 2020. |
| 8 Jun 2021 | Publication of the PPE deliveries statistics moved from a weekly schedule to a monthly schedule, on the second Tuesday of the month. |
| 8 Jun 2021 | Publication of the first experimental statistics about orders on the e-Portal. This includes the number of registrations and the sector of the user. Data from the e-Portal are reported by the e-Portal order date. Accompanying tables include the breakdown of e-Portal orders by item type and sector. |
| 17 Mar 2022 | Publication of the PPE distribution statistics moved from the second Tuesday of the month to the second Thursday of the month. |
| 14 July 2022 | The last monthly publication went out in April 2022. Publication has since changed to quarterly. The first quarterly publication went out on 14 July 2022. We expect quarterly publications will fully meet the needs of users, as PPE distribution patterns are now relatively stable over time. |
| 13 April 2023 | After review, DHSC has decided that the publication of PPE distribution statistics (England) will end on 13 April 2023. |
Experimental statistics
Given the commitment of DHSC to be open and transparent with the public it serves, these data are being released as experimental statistics. DHSC has received requests for data on the distribution of PPE, such as Parliamentary Questions, freedom of information requests and other queries.
These experimental statistics are undergoing continual evaluation and development. These figures have not been used for statistical purposes before.
Find out more about experimental statistics from the Governmental Statistics Service (GSS).
For feedback and questions about the release, please contact statistics@dhsc.gov.uk.
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Details of face mask types are as follows: FFP2 face masks have a minimum of 94% filtration percentage and a maximum of 8% leakage to the inside. FFP3 face masks have a minimum filtration of 99% and a maximum leakage of 2% to the inside. Type IIR face masks are medical face masks made up of a 4-ply construction and include a splash-resistant layer to protect against blood and other bodily fluids. Other face masks include all other types of face masks and face masks awaiting categorisation. Some of these may be categorised as either FFP2, FFP3, IIR or type II in subsequent publications of this data. ↩
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Items that are critical for infection control include cleaning equipment, coveralls, detergents, hand hygiene products and swabs. Paper towels are no longer included as they are not deemed specifically relevant to the COVID-19 PPE response. ↩
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Transparent face masks are fast-moving items that are distributed at irregular intervals in small volumes. These are not included in the National infection prevention and control manual for England. ↩
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Between 30 March 2022 and 6 April 2022, we were unable to access the e-Portal data which classifies the customer type of the customer making an order, due to technical issues. Where customer information is not available, these have been classified under the ‘Other’ customer type which has resulted in an increase in the ‘Other’ customer category for March and April 2022 compared to previous months. ↩
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Since the July 2022 publication, there have been improvements to the way we classify a small number of e-Portal orders between January and March 2021. ↩
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The PPE volumes sent to each Devolved Administration from DHSC can be found in Table 3 of the accompanying spreadsheet. For further information about the Devolved Administrations` PPE programmes see the accompanying links. Data on PPE distributed in Scotland has been published by the Scottish Government. Data on PPE distributed in Northern Ireland has been published by the Health and Social Care Northern Ireland Business Services Organisation. Data on PPE distributed in Wales has been published by the Welsh Government. ↩