Test and trace consultants cost NHS millions in fees

CONSULTANTS working on NHS test and trace are being paid the equivalent of up to £1.5 million a year, it emerged last night, as MPS hit out at the “staggering” use of taxpayers’ money.

Some executives from Boston Consulting Group are reportedly being paid day rates of approximately £7,000 to help improve the £12 billion contact tracing system. According to documents obtained by Sky News, the Government has paid BCG a r ound £10 million for work conducted by a team of 40 consultants between the end of April and late August.

While the firm has agreed a 10-15 per cent discount with the Department of Health, its fees still range from between £2,400 and £7,360. It comes after it was revealed last week that consultants from a second firm, Deloitte, were being paid day rates of as much as £2,360 for their work.

The disclosure has reignited criticism of the Government’s handling of the system. The number of contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19 who were reached in the week to Sept 30 was just 68.6 per cent, the lowest weekly percentage to date.

The data shows that just 25.7 per cent of people who were tested in person for Covid-19 in England received their result within 24 hours, despite the Prime Minister setting a target of 100 per cent by the end of June.

The Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies has also warned that the system is having only a “marginal” impact on tackling the virus due to “relatively low levels of engagement”, “testing delays” and “poor rates of adherence with self isolation”.

Last night, Jonathan Reynolds, a shadow treasury minister, described the payment to BCG as “staggering”, while Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, called for the funds to be reallocated to local authority health teams working alongside test and trace.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “NHS test and trace is the biggest testing system per head of population of all major countries in Europe. It’s processing 270,000 tests a day and nearly 700,000 people who may otherwise have unknowingly at risk of spreading coronavirus have been contacted.

“To build the largest diagnostic network in British history, it requires us to work with both public and private sector partners with the specialist skills and experience we need. Every pound spent i s contributing towards our efforts to keep people safe as we ramp up capacity to 500,000 tests a day by the end of October.”