Error causes delay for covid test site
THE opening of a long-term Covid-19 testing site was delayed after contractors failed to bring necessary equipment to set it up.
The testing site was due to open at a car park in Skelmersdale on Wednesday, November 11 and the space was closed off by West Lancashire Borough Council two days earlier.
Contractors were supposed to build the semi-permanent testing centre on the previous Tuesday, with testing to begin the following afternoon. However, local leaders say that plan was bungled when contract workers arrived without the correct equipment. All equipment that had been put in place had to be removed and the opening date delayed by a full seven days.
Council leader Cllr Ian Moran said the local authority had expressed its concerns about the error, while MP Rosie Cooper went further and labelled the incident as “absolutely appalling”.
She said: “I have repeatedly voiced mine and the residents of West Lancashire’s concerns about the lack of local testing facilities in the area. The apathy with which the Government and its contractors have treated my constituents is unforgivable.
“The fact that it has taken this long to get a permanent testing centre in Skelmersdale is simply disgraceful. Skelmersdale residents are critically ill and dying and yet NHS Test and
Trace don’t seem to take this seriously enough to do their job properly.
“Many Skelmersdale residents are unable to travel without the use of public transport and so would find it very difficult to visit testing sites in the surrounding area. This site is essential to their health and the people they may come in contact with.
“This incompetence must stop, it could cost lives.”She added that it was essential the mistake was resolved without further delay.
The site was finally due to open yesterday in Westgate Car Park by The Health Centre on Sandy Lane and will remain in place for at least three months. It is the first of its kind to be opened in the town and follows on from a similar facility being opened at Edge Hill University last month. In the meantime, residents were advised to book into the facility at Edge Hill University.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “NHS Test and Trace is the largest diagnostic network in British history. More than 600 test sites are already in operation across the UK, and up to 40 new test sites opening every week.
“The system is processing tests at an unprecedented scale, with the daily testing capacity now surpassing 500,000, and more than 2 million people have been contacted and told to isolate by NHS Test and Trace.
“Anyone with coronavirus symptoms can get a free test.”