Recommendation 5

NHST&T claims to be a learning organisation, but since last May many important stakeholders have at times felt ignored by it. NHST&T emphasises to us that it is “constantly learning what works and what does not” and that it is critical to develop “an integrated team of all the different organisations, institutions and individuals in the country”. However, a range of stakeholders have queried why local authorities and NHS primary care bodies were not more directly involved in testing and tracing activities at the outset, given their existing networks, experience and expertise. Local authorities have subsequently become much more involved, for example undertaking contact tracing for people who are hard to reach. We are also concerned by a lack of engagement with school heads and education stakeholders in the roll-out of rapid testing, and the lack of general public health expertise at senior levels of NHST&T. NHST&T will need to focus more on engagement and collaboration with other sectors if the rapid testing expands to cover an increasing range of settings. Recommendation: NHST&T should review how it engages with and draws expertise from the wider public health establishment and other sectors that are especially dependent on its work. This should include, but is not limited to, local government, the schools sector and the hospitality industry.