Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Testing for COVID-19 is fundamental to controlling the virus, and to informing and reassuring the...
Conclusion
Testing for COVID-19 is fundamental to controlling the virus, and to informing and reassuring the public.50 Yet, while Government’s announcement of its 100,000 daily test target by the end of April had a galvanising effect to start with, NHS Providers reported that it had ended up being a distraction from developing the right kind of capacity and testing approaches in all areas of the country.51 The UK Statistics Authority publicly criticised the Government for the way it counted tests and has urged greater clarity about how testing targets are defined, measured and reported.52 Similarly to PPE, we heard how unkept promises on tests had led to a loss in confidence among some providing NHS services.53 43 Q 32 44 RSC0001 Care England submission 45 Qq 90–91 46 Qq 20, 25 47 For example, BBC news on its Panorama programme on PPE and BBC statement on Panorama, Monday 27 April: Has The Government Failed the NHS? 48 RSC0001 Care England submission; RSC0002 Local Government Association submission; RSC0004 NHS Providers submission; RSC0005 Association of Anaesthetists submission; RSC0010 NHS Confederation submission 49 HSJ, Exclusive: Turkish delivery contained just a few hours’ worth of gowns, 23 April; The Guardian, Coronavirus PPE: all 400,000 gowns flown from Turkey for NHS fail UK standards, 7 May 50 Qq 24–26 51 RSC0004 NHS Providers 52 Sir David Norgrove letter to Matt Hancock regarding COVID-19 testing 53 RSC0010 NHS Confederation submission Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak 15
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
4.3 The ability to test and trace for COVID-19 is critical to ending transmission in the community. The department will continue to grow capacity and resilience, including being prepared for winter when demand for testing is likely to increase. The department has greatly increased UK daily swab test capacity from 2,000 people a day in March 2020 to passing the 500,000 target on 31 October 2020 by increasing capacity within existing labs, opening and partnering with new labs, bringing in hundreds of additional staff for the labs, and introducing cutting-edge testing techniques and technologies which will both decrease turnaround times and further boost capacity.