Test and tracers ignored because of cold-call fears

THE NHS test-and-trace service is failing because people do not want to answer 0300 numbers on their phone due to bad experiences with cold callers, the Local Government Association has warned.

Staff enlisted by the Government to track down people who have come into contact with positive coronavirus cases use an “unrecognisable” 0300 number, which is ignored by some people.

The LGA, which represents 300 councils in England, called for “boots on the ground” in local areas to reach those who may feel they are being “pestered” by cold callers or debt collectors on the phone.

This week, researchers reported that only 50 per cent of contacts were being traced through the NHS scheme – a significant shortfall of the 80 per cent target that government scientists said needed to be reached for the service to be effective.

The poor results have led to many local authorities setting up their own systems, including Sandwell council in the West Midlands, Blackburn with Darwen council in Lancashire, and Calderdale council in West Yorkshire.

Health officials in Greater Manchester are also reportedly looking into establishing a local team of virus tracers.

The £192 million nationwide NHS tracing system, which aims to prevent a second wave, is staffed by more than 20,000 contact tracers through the private firms Serco and Sitel.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, called for a radical overhaul and for local authorities to be put “in the driving seat”.

“The problem with the national system, where you effectively get a call from an 0300 number from a call centre run by an outsourced company, is that they are not as effective as the onthe-ground authority,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “When you look at the statistics, the [local authority] has a much better success rate.

“After 48 hours, if Serco can’t get hold of people – which is in around 50 per cent [of cases] – they pass the contacts over to local public health officials, and they have a success rate of around 90 per cent. So, they are clearly better at getting hold of people.”

David Davis, the former Conservative minister, said that using such a phone number “demonstrates how stupid” the implementation of contact tracing had been.

He said: “I would not pick up the phone to an 0300 myself because I do not want to spend my time talking to someone trying to sell me double glazing.

“Switching to local phone numbers would be a very easy way of ensuring compliance.”

A spokesman for the LGA said: “We would encourage anyone called by the 0300 013 5000 number to answer and do their bit to help defeat this virus.

“But it is also crucial that missed calls can be followed up on the ground by public health experts experienced in contact tracing.”