In a hurry to protect itself against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Quebec Ministry of Health (MSSS) not only buys personal protective equipment (PPE) when it is unaware and unprepared to promote it with proper use and distribution, but it also suffered financial losses estimated at $ 938 million in March 2021, according to the latest report from Auditor General (AG) Guylaine Leclerc.
VG’s first observation about buying PPE was that Quebec’s health plan hadn’t been updated in very long. In fact, the latter, the MSSS Pandemic Influenza Plan, and the regional plans are dated more than ten years.
And even that the MSSS emergency plan provided for this, no reserve or other measures to facilitate the supply of PPE are in place.
In doing so, Quebec was not ready for the purchase, use and distribution of PPE when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2019.
Despite all that, from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) acquired more than $ 3 billion worth of this equipment.
Nearly a billion dollars in financial losses
To deal with the health emergency, MSSS will have to buy PPE at exorbitant prices during the 2020 global shortage.can we read in the report. The subsequent decrease in the cost of PPE resulted in a financial loss worth $ 938 million as of March 31, 2021.
In fact, faced with the global shortage of PPE, the MSSS instruction is to buy some in every possible way, is it written. In addition to financial losses, this resulted in control gaps – especially in the first wave – and a lack of evidence verifying supplier integrity or product compliance.
A purchase was prepaid even if the product details submitted by the supplier showed inconsistencies.
Adequate monitoring as well as a timely and well -managed health emergency plan of all actors no doubt MSSS allowed that react faster and efficiently once pandemic risks increased in Quebec. He could, for example, plan for increasing PPE inventory and make purchases before shortages and price increases.
Source: Radio-Canada