Ministers wasted at least £150 million buying masks with the wrong kind of straps from a little-known family investment company, The Times can reveal.
Health officials signed a £252 million contract to buy masks for frontline healthcare staff from Ayanda Capital in April in a deal brokered by a government adviser who also advises the company’s board.
The contract included 50 million high-strength “FFP2” medical masks costing an estimated £150 million to £180 million and amounting to the entire health system’s expected consumption for a year, as well as 150 million cheaper “IIR” masks.
Officials have admitted that the 43.5 million Chinese-made FFP2 masks delivered so far did not meet standards and could not be used in the NHS, legal documents reveal. The masks have
