Planning failures and other critical flaws led to doctors and nurses being forced to work without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from the UK's Covid inquiry. The inquiry's fifth report stated that healthcare staff were unable to properly protect themselves or those in their care from dangerous infections. The United Kingdom entered the pandemic with its stockpile of masks, gowns, and gloves in a "perilous state" and was "simply not ready to compete" in the global market for new supplies. Of the approximately £14.9 billion spent by the government on PPE, the report found that nearly two-thirds, close to £10 billion, was wasted. Baroness Hallett, chair of the inquiry, described the waste of taxpayer money as "vast" and noted that an overreliance on China for manufacturing equipment left the UK "dangerously overexposed." When the costs of home testing kits and other equipment, such as ventilators, are included, the total government expenditure between January 2020 and June 2022 surpassed £42 billion, the inquiry determined. The UK's emergency PPE stockpile, intended to last at least 15 weeks before replenishment, was depleted by the end of March 2020 as demand from hospitals surged.