Westminster failed to stockpile enough personal protective equipment (PPE) before the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, an investigation has found. 

Gowns, visors, swabs and body bags were left out of an epidemic stockpile when it was set up in 2009, BBC Panorama reported.

Some of the items are now in short supply.

A Government spokesman told the programme that the expert committee that advises ministers on new and emerging respiratory virus threats, known as Nervtag, did not recommend stockpiling swabs and body bags.

They said the stockpile was designed for a flu pandemic, and Covid-19 has a higher hospitalisation rate.

However, Panorama reported that Nervtag said gowns, one of the items in shortest supply in the UK, should be purchased last June.

Professor John Ashton, a public health expert who has previously criticised the Government’s approach, said the failure to stockpile some items meant NHS staff were working without crucial equipment.

He told the programme: “The consequence of not planning, not ordering kit, not having stockpiles, is that we are sending into the frontline doctors, nurses, other health workers and social care workers without the equipment to keep them safe.”