'Cast your mind back': HSE chief asks public to remember pressure for PPE procurement

HSE chief executive Paul Reid said the health service was under strain to secure medical supplies when Covid-19 first hit the country. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

The head of the HSE has asked that the people try to remember the strain the health service was under in terms of procuring Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical equipment in February and March in the face of a controversy over unusable ventilators.

Responding to questioning on the subject at the HSE’s weekly media briefing in Dublin, Paul Reid said “cast your mind back” regarding “what was happening in the world, which was a worldwide chase for ventilators”.