Care company's horror as PPE supplies rise from £150 to £1,500
A Black Country care provider has condemned firms cashing in on Covid-19 after it was asked to pay £2 for a plastic, throw-away apron which normally sells for two pence.
Wednesbury-based Awarding Care, which supports around 170 people living in their own homes, has seen the cost of personal protective equipment (PPE) increase by up to 9,900 percent.
Karl Silvester, Awarding Care’s registered manager, said the company was forced to approach alternative suppliers after its normal PPE provider said it had been told it could only sell to the NHS.
He said: “We have gone out to the market and been quoted £15 for box of hundred gloves that normally sells at £2-3 and £2 each for a plastic apron.
“They are usually two pence each.”
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He added other examples include firms asking £1,500 for bulk orders of gloves which normally cost £150.
Awarding Care is paid by local councils to provide support residents in their homes. He added: “We just can’t sustain those prices on what the local authorities pay us. “
The care company took to social media this weekend to condemn the rise, saying once the present health crisis is over it will never use those suppliers again.
It posted on twitter: “When #COVID is over we will be ending all contracts with suppliers who have over inflated prices of PPE. We are all in this together and whilst some increase is expected, quoting over £1,500 for gloves that would have cost us around £150 before is not acceptable.”
The price rises have been described as a rip-off by a local councillor who is now demanding Sandwell Council’s Trading Standards officers investigate.
Councillor Elaine Costigan, whose husband recently survived Covid-19, reacted with horror to the price hikes.
“It’s outrageous. This is just taking advantage of the situation. It shouldn’t be allowed at this time when people are losing their lives,” she said.
“I will be raising this with Trading Standards because this is so wrong.
“Carers are trying to provide a service and of course they need the PPE to protect staff and the people they care for.
“I just hope the businesses realise what they are doing and that something is done about it.”
