Recommendation 18

Since October 2020, NHST&T has introduced lateral flow device (LFD) tests to detect infections in people without symptoms. NHST&T distributed around 691 million LFD tests between October 2020 and May 2021 as part of its plans to roll out regular asymptomatic testing. These were initially targeted at specific high-risk groups, such as care home residents, before being made available to other groups and then the wider population. By 26 May 2021, of the 691 million tests distributed by NHST&T, 96 million had been registered as used, representing only 14% of the total.38 We questioned our witnesses about this low number. The Chief Executive of UKHSA explained that if tests believed to be in storage or transit were discounted the percentage of tests which had been registered rises to 20%. However, they also noted that, beyond that, it was difficult to identify what had been done with the rest. The NAO report found that there was no system in place to monitor LFD results and ensure they are reported.39 We were told that around 40% of people were using tests and not reporting the results. LFD tests have been distributed since October 2020, but the NAO report in June 2021 found that NHST&T had only recently started work to understand why LFD registrations were so low.40 We were also told that as a third of cases of COVID-19 were asymptomatic, lateral flow tests were an important way of identifying positive cases, particularly when used by people who do not have symptoms who would otherwise be unlikely to get a test.41 The 96 million test results registered by the end of May identified 223,000 positive cases.42 Reliance on consultants