The Ministry of Health has told the Auditor-General increasing pressure on staffing numbers and budgets could lead to emergency preparedness processes being deprioritised. In 2020, the Office of the Auditor General conducted an independent review during the early stages of Covid-19 pandemic of the Ministry of Health’s stock levels of critical clinical supplies, particularly personal protective equipment (PPE) like face masks and shields, vaccines, goggles, gowns and gloves. It is important the health system maintains adequate supply levels to ensure health services have continued access to them during large and prolonged pandemics and emergencies.
The Auditor-General identified several issues in 2020, including gaps in national and regional emergency and pandemic plans, and inadequate systems for managing and distributing PPE stock, and made 10 recommendations which the ministry accepted..
