There's a little known table of what PPE has been distributed for use by the NHS in England. It shows that, in over five months, we only consumed 6.6m FFP2 facemasks. Goodness knows why we tried to buy 50m from Liz Truss' adviser, Andrew Mills ( https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ppe-deliveries-england-27-july-to-2-august-2020/experimental-statistics-personal-protective-equipment-distributed-for-use-by-health-and-social-care-services-in-england-27-july-to-2-august-2020).

The point is especially stark when you remember that none of the Andrew Mills FFP2 facemasks could be distributed to the NHS. The table shows the NHS was able to secure supply from others. So why did we buy 50m from him?

"Gloves are not counted as pairs" so when Boris Johnson boasts of "billions of items of PPE" just remember that 72.5% of them are single gloves. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53672841

There is one concession to sensible governance: "Paper towels are counted in sleeves of 250 single sheets."