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1. Main results

These statistics show the latest number of PPE items which have been issued to the health and social care system in Wales.

  • Since 9 March 2020, the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) has issued 580.4 million items of PPE to the health and social care sectors in Wales. Around 284 million of these were issued to the social care sector.
  • In the seven days to Sunday 17 January 2021 just under 17 million items were issued.
  • The weekly number of PPE items issued has generally increased from March 2020 reaching a peak of 20.2 million in May 2020. Since then, the number of items issued each week fluctuates but has generally remained around 14 million.
Table 1: Number of PPE items issued
Item Since 9 March 2020 In the seven days to 17 January 2021
Aprons 106,925,725 2,438,800
Body bags 11,161 60
Eye protector 1,622,500 610
Type I and Type II masks 1,122,700 7,800
Type IIR masks 134,588,356 2,481,800
FFP2 masks 121,290 870
FFP3 masks 2,710,183 135,115
Face visors 4,745,651 158,935
Fit test kits and spares 5,923 120
Gloves 311,839,690 8,508,860
Gloves cuff 1,264,350 700
Gowns (fluid-resistant) 1,851,382 51,250
Gowns (other) 612,093 9,354
Hand sanitiser 364,276 5,781
Hand wipes 12,618,825 3,109,550
Respirator filters 22,176 0
Respirator hoods 102 0
Total 580,426,383 16,909,605

Source: NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership

The reporting of PPE items issued is based on individual units, except for:

  • gloves where a unit is reported based on the unit size of a pack
  • hand sanitiser where the unit is a bottle regardless of size

Please note: This data is subject to revisions and previous publications are not revised. The latest figures are the most up to date and cumulative figures will include any historical revisions.

Image
A chart to show the weekly number of PPE items issued since 9 March 2020. The weekly number of PPE items issued has generally increased from March 2020 reaching a peak of 20.2 million in May 2020. Since September 2020 the number of items issued has fluctuated between 11 and 17 million but decreased to 7 million in the week ending 3 January 2021.

Weekly Number of PPE items issued by date on StatsWales

Fluctuations in the weekly number of PPE items issued occur when local stores use their existing stocks which results in fewer items issued for that week. The decrease in the weekly number of PPE items issued for the week ending 3 January 2021 was due to the time period including bank holidays as well as local stores using additional stocks that were acquired prior to Christmas.

The data accompanying this chart is available on StatsWales.

2. Quality and methodology information

This data is management information provided to the Welsh Government by the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP). NWSSP procures and distributes PPE for the health and social care sectors in Wales on behalf of the Welsh Government.  We are publishing this to provide a weekly summary of PPE items issued while it remains relevant to the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This data has not undergone the same level of quality assurance as official statistics and the data may be subject to future revisions.

Local health boards request items of PPE from NWSSP via an online system. These items are then distributed from the NWSSP warehouses on scheduled delivery slots. Processes also exist for local health boards to request emergency deliveries of PPE if needed, and these emergency deliveries of PPE are included in this data. It is possible for some items to occasionally be rationed if stocks are low. Local health boards hold their own stocks of PPE and may also obtain supplies separately to this process. Data includes stock issued from NWSSP only and does not include any stock procured directly by the NHS or local authorities. The data will include PPE procured directly by NWSSP as well as PPE distributed to NWSSP by the UK Government. It reflects a snapshot at a point in time of a dynamic position.

This release reports on PPE items issued since 9 March 2020 as this represents the point at which the current reporting arrangements were established.

Data included in this release is correct at 8pm on 17 January 2021.

National Statistics status

These statistics are not National Statistics. However, as far as has been practicable, they have been collected and validated in accordance with the pillars and principles within the Code of Practice for Statistics. We continue to develop the data collection and quality assurance process to improve the data.

These statistics have been produced quickly in response to developing world events.

Well-being of Future Generations Act

The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales. The Act puts in place seven wellbeing goals for Wales. These are for a more equal, prosperous, resilient, healthier and globally responsible Wales, with cohesive communities and a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language. Under section (10)(1) of the Act, the Welsh Ministers must (a) publish indicators ('national indicators') that must be applied for the purpose of measuring progress towards the achievement of the wellbeing goals, and (b) lay a copy of the national indicators before the National Assembly. The 46 national indicators were laid in March 2016.

Information on the indicators, along with narratives for each of the well-being goals and associated technical information is available in the Well-being of Wales report.

Further information on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

The statistics included in this release could also provide supporting narrative to the national indicators and be used by public services boards in relation to their local wellbeing assessments and local wellbeing plans.

Next update

The next release will be on Thursday 28 January 2021.

We want your feedback

We welcome any feedback on any aspect of these statistics which can be provided by email to kas.covid19@gov.wales.

3. Contact details

Statistician: Abi Woodham
Telephone: 0300 025 1053
Email: kas.covid19@gov.wales

Media: 0300 025 8099

SFR 20/2021