Document Three
Memorandum
Response to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Domestic Supply
Query and Forward Actions and Activities
Date due to MO: 18 June 2020
Action required by:
N/A
Security level:
Medium
Health Report number: HR20200885
To:
Hon. David Clark, Minister of Health
Contact for telephone discussion
Name
Position
Telephone
Keriana Brooking
Deputy Chief Executive; COVID-19 Hub
section 9(2)(a)
Kelvin Watson
Manager; Health Supply, COVID-19 Hub
section 9(2)(a)
Action for Private Secretaries
N/A
Date dispatched to MO:
under the Official Information Act
Released
Document Three
Response to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Domestic Supply
Query and Forward Actions and Activities
Purpose of report
1.
The purpose of this report is to respond to your query regarding procurement
strategies for the domestic supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) (Refer:
HR20200817).
2.
Further information related to addressing critical supply and ongoing maintenance of
PPE is provided for your reference.
Context
3.
In response to the information provided in HR20200817, you sought further
information on a timeframe for a national PPE procurement plan.
4.
The Ministry of Health (Ministry) is currently working through a current and future state
procurement strategy and plan for the active and reactive management of critical
medical supplies (including PPE). The Ministry anticipates this will be completed by 31
July 2020.
5.
The Ministry has been working with chief financial officers from the DHBs, NZ Health
Partnerships Ltd and regional procurement leaders to strengthen the short, medium
and long term procurement plan and strategy for PPE.
6.
The Ministry has established a governance framework with clear roles and
responsibilities to determine and agree on the criteria for the management and
purchasing of critical medical supplies. The roles and responsibilities wil include a
national coordination function performed by NZ Health Partnerships, with responsibility
for national PPE procurement coordination, with oversight, strategic direction,
monitoring and funding being provided from the Ministry. The Ministry is
strengthening category leadership and management of critical supplies utilising the
regional procurement leads and NZ Health Partnerships.
7.
In HR20200932, the Ministry provided you with information on work underway to
under the Official Information Act
review the quality of al PPE sourced since 1 January funded by Ministry from non-
regular New Zealand health system suppliers. This enabled the Ministry to determine
the quantity of stock on hand that satisfies quality requirements to continue to support
access to quality PPE in the short term.
8.
The review of the quality of al Ministry-funded PPE has highlighted a need for tighter
procurement controls, quality control and due diligence processes, robust contracts
and capable sourcing partners.
Released
9.
In parallel, the Ministry is reviewing all planned shipments of PPE and undertaking an
assessment of their continued need. This wil al ow for a targeted purchasing strategy
to ensure the Ministry has a right sized PPE supply with sufficient sizes and types that
can be accessed quickly should a second wave of COVID-19 occur.
10.
The medium to long term procurement strategy wil focus on the reimagining of the
National Reserve Stock model to produce an iterative stock rotation supply model that
ensures focussed inventory management at a local, regional and national level, that has
Health Report: HR20200885
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Document Three
integrated stock rotation and obsolescence management, alongside a greater volume
of PPE held in reserve. This will allow for strategically managed sourcing of critical
medical supplies in a crisis.
11.
The Ministry is working with DHBs and procurement category leads to implement a
reporting structure that wil provide clarity on inventory forecasting and support better
quality sourcing. We will also review processes for sourcing and define acceptance
criteria of products and develop a recal /return function for products that do not meet
these criteria.
12.
The Ministry continues to monitor the global supply chain and has begun discussions
with its partners in similar jurisdictions to understand alternate national and
international sourcing opportunities and constraints.
13.
The actions outlined in this report wil address some of the recommendations raised in
the Office of the Auditor General’s report on PPE dated 15 June 2020. This includes but
is not limited to the consideration of clarity in roles, responsibilities, coverage,
requirements, and planning assumptions for maintaining the national reserve of PPE
and the implementation of a centralised system for regular reporting inventory and
stock obsolescence management of PPE (recommendations 4, 6 and 7). Further, this
report and our intent to work alongside the DHBs and procurement leads addresses in
part recommendations 8 and 10.
Next steps
14.
The Ministry wil report back to you with the finalised national procurement strategy
and plan for critical medical supplies by 31 July 2020. Officials can provide further
information about this topic at your request.
Keriana Brooking
Deputy Chief Executive
COVID-19 Health System Response
under the Official Information Act
Released
Health Report: HR20200885
3
Document Outline
