Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 37
37
Not Addressed
The National Audit Office has stated that “to achieve value for money NHST&T must be...
Conclusion
The National Audit Office has stated that “to achieve value for money NHST&T must be able to demonstrate both that the interventions it delivers are effective in achieving its objective, and that the mix of interventions is the most cost-effective use of public resources.” After 18 months and many billions of pounds of taxpayers’ funds, there is hope that the UK now has a capacity for testing and tracing that is adequate. It is a bitter irony that this point may only have been reached at the point in which the vaccination programme makes testing less of a critical component than it was previously. (Paragraph 240) 130 Coronavirus: lessons learned to date
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response advocates for developing greater operational competence in future test and trace programmes, ensuring relevant agencies have surge capacity within seven days of an emergency, but does not address the committee's conclusion on past testing capacity.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
Scientific excellence is not enough in test and trace programmes: the UK must develop greater operational competence in deployment. In particular, the government must ensure that both the new UK Health Security Agency and local authorities have the capability and funding to stand up both central surge capacity and locally driven testing and contact tracing within seven days of a public health emergency being declared.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗