‘Still a lot to do on Test & Trace’

THE Covid-19 contact tracing system is “nowhere near” world beating, a leading health academic has said.

Professor Sir Chris Ham, former chief executive of the King’s Fund think tank, said “there is still a lot to do” to create a world class system.

The Prime Minister pledged in May that there would be a “world beating” test track and trace operation by June 1.

But last week the head of NHS Test and Trace, Baroness Dido Harding, admitted that the programme was not yet “gold standard” after figures showed a third of people who tested positive for coronavirus could not be reached by officials or failed to provide details of their contacts.

Some 8,117 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England had their case transferred to the NHS system, of whom 5,407 (67%) were reached, while 2,710 (33%) did not provide information about their contacts or could not be reached.

Overall, 31,794 contacts were identified and, of these, 26,985 were reached and advised to self-isolate - 85% of the total number of contacts.

Of the remaining 15% (4,809), some were not reached, others said they were already taking action independently of the system and some simply refused to comply.

People are contacted 10 times in a 24-hour period.

Sir Chris, who is now non-executive chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire sustainability and transformation partnership and non-executive director of Royal Free Hospitals, told a Royal Society of Medicine briefing on Covid-19: “As Jonathan VanTam (England’s deputy chief medical officer) said we are at a dangerous moment with the lockdown being eased ahead of having a fully-functioning test and tracing system in place.

“I really worried that there is still a lot to do to develop the so-called world class or world beating test and trace system.

“We are nowhere near that yet although a lot of work is taking place to move us closer to that.”

Nigel Edwards, chief executive at the Nuffield Trust, added: “The whole approach to testing and tracing has not been a good story”.

An NHS spokesperson said: “NHS Test and Trace is a new service on a scale never seen before, designed to help us control and contain this virus, and save lives.

“The new data from the first week of operation shows how we are already helping to stop the spread of the virus with thousands of people booking a test, isolating and sharing their recent close contacts.”

Meanwhile Sir Chris said that looking forward there may be progress in the social care sector. He said the “second class status” of the system has been made much more visible during the coronavirus crisis and can no longer be “kicked down the track”.