Lost Covid test cases an appalling admission

THE latest fiasco concerning “missing” Covid test cases, passed off as a “technical glitch”, was an appalling admission for Matt Hancock to make.

When the details of a recent Panorama programme concerning the phone call follow-up system are taken into account, it proves beyond reasonable doubt that the whole test, track and trace system has been a complete shambles.

The programme exposed how thousands of people, employed to deal with calls at their homes, from those infected, were being paid between £17 and £27 an hour, but receiving virtually no calls, and when they did get the odd one, the computer system generally failed. In short, it cost almost £1bn to have people sitting at home for months doing very little.

With the announcement that former Sainsbury boss Mike Coupe is joining his former colleague Baroness Dido Harding (the unacceptable face of privilege and cronyism) as part of the team attempting to deal with test and trace, I must admit my confidence level is not high in Dido, a businesswoman with a mixed track record, and Mike, who knows about stacking shelves and flogging tins of beans. But where is their knowledge and experience of the health sector?

On a slightly different, but related tack, it recently crossed my mind that the serious circumstances the country finds itself in, could warrant some lateral thinking.

Without wishing to suggest a coalition government, I think there could be some mileage in inviting the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer and his shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, to become members of a special Covid Action Committee. Rob Milner, Hedon.