Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 32
32
Accepted
Paragraph: 235
The new Test and Trace operation eventually established in May 2020 was a step in...
Conclusion
The new Test and Trace operation eventually established in May 2020 was a step in the right direction but set up much too late. Because of that delay there was huge pressure to get results quickly which meant that it followed a centralised model initially, meaning assistance from laboratories outside PHE—particularly university laboratories—was rebuffed. The same was true for contact tracing, where the established capabilities of local Directors of Public Health and their teams were Coronavirus: lessons learned to date 129 not effectively harnessed during the initial response to the pandemic, despite local approaches providing effective in places where they were pursued. It is now clear that the optimal structure for test and trace is one that is locally driven with the ability to draw on central surge capacity—but it took the best part of a year to get to that point. In short, implementation was too centralised when it ought to have been more decentralised.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government accepts the observation, committing to strengthening proactive collaboration and confirming that UKHSA will maintain established relationships with local tracing arrangements.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
235
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
The government accepts this recommendation. Learning from and sharing international practice is integral to the UK’s preparedness for and response to emergencies. The government is committed to strengthening the UK’s global leadership in this area, including through the UK’s membership of the Global Health Security Initiative, G7 and G20, and World Health Organisation. The government is also committed to strengthening a culture of proactive collaboration with other organisations, especially during a crisis. UKHSA, established during the pandemic, will maintain the well-established relationships with local tracing arrangements within all local authorities.
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