Post by Webster on Apr 20, 2020 22:03:37 GMT
(The Guardian) Public Health England has launched an unusually strident attack on an attempt by Trevor Kavanagh, the Sun columnist, to transfer blame for failings in preparation for the Covid-19 outbreak from politicians to government advisers.
On Monday evening, PHE published a press release on its gov.uk website dismissing Kavanagh’s claims in a point-by-point rebuttal, variously describing his assertions as “wrong”, “completely wrong”, and “nonsense”.
Writing in the Sun newspaper on Monday, Kavanagh had defended Boris Johnson’s decision to holiday in Mustique and spend his weekends in the country as the pandemic gathered steam. “Presidents and prime ministers have a lot on their plates,” he wrote. “When it comes to health alarms, they rely on experts.”
It was, claimed Kavanagh, the “sprawling” PHE, an “inflexible, politically correct quango”, that was culpable for a deficient stockpile of personal protective equipment, and it had “dragged its feet” over getting hold of ventilators for seriously ill patients, and that it had resisted offers of “outside help” with filling shortages. PHE said in its response: PHE is not responsible for determining what stock is held in the pandemic stockpile. We are responsible for developing the UK guidance on PPE and advising how to keep clinicians safe. The DHSC is responsible for the procurement of PPE on behalf of the NHS, not PHE. … PHE does not source or procure ventilators or beds on behalf of the NHS … PHE is not responsible for the supply of PPE. The DHSC and NHS England is leading this work including dealing with offers of help from private companies.
A spokesperson for PHE said the Sun had not put its claims to the agency before publishing Kavanagh’s column.
On Monday evening, PHE published a press release on its gov.uk website dismissing Kavanagh’s claims in a point-by-point rebuttal, variously describing his assertions as “wrong”, “completely wrong”, and “nonsense”.
Writing in the Sun newspaper on Monday, Kavanagh had defended Boris Johnson’s decision to holiday in Mustique and spend his weekends in the country as the pandemic gathered steam. “Presidents and prime ministers have a lot on their plates,” he wrote. “When it comes to health alarms, they rely on experts.”
It was, claimed Kavanagh, the “sprawling” PHE, an “inflexible, politically correct quango”, that was culpable for a deficient stockpile of personal protective equipment, and it had “dragged its feet” over getting hold of ventilators for seriously ill patients, and that it had resisted offers of “outside help” with filling shortages. PHE said in its response: PHE is not responsible for determining what stock is held in the pandemic stockpile. We are responsible for developing the UK guidance on PPE and advising how to keep clinicians safe. The DHSC is responsible for the procurement of PPE on behalf of the NHS, not PHE. … PHE does not source or procure ventilators or beds on behalf of the NHS … PHE is not responsible for the supply of PPE. The DHSC and NHS England is leading this work including dealing with offers of help from private companies.
A spokesperson for PHE said the Sun had not put its claims to the agency before publishing Kavanagh’s column.