Some £8.7 billion spent by the Government on personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic has been written off, according to annual accounts. New documents from the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) show huge amounts wasted on useless equipment, while millions of pounds has been spent getting out of contracts or storing PPE at ports. According to the 2020/21 accounts, some £673 million worth of equipment was found to be totally unusable, and £750 million was spent on items that were not used before their expiry date. Nearly £2.6 billion was spent on “items not suitable for use in the NHS,” but which the department thinks can be sold or given to charities. The DHSC also said the value of its remaining stock had been slashed by £4.7 billion as the price of PPE dropped. At the start of the pandemic, prices for protective equipment rose sharply as …