Not surprisingly, you miss the point. It was not up to you to explain the discrepancy. It was his job to explain the discrepancy. For example one possible explanation might have been - and I am not saying it is, but it could have been - "We have 8000 actively in use, and another 4,000 have been received into our distribution centres. They are going through the standard quality checks before going out to the wards. That process should be completed by the weekend."

A nice, clear account of the reason for two different figures. And any other reasonable explanation would have not only sufficed, but would have shown the government to be on top of the situation. Instead, they could not explain it and it is left to others to scrabble for ways that might - or might not - account for the difference.