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Nearly 600,000,000 home Covid test kits may have gone unused

The £37billion system is meant to be 'world-beating', but it still faces a number of hurdles.

A woman at home is using a lateral flow testing kit.
It is unclear whether the unregistered tests have been used or not (Picture: Getty Images)

Almost 600million lateral flow tests given to people in England may still be unaccounted for, according to the public spending watchdog.

Just 14% of the 691million tests handed out were registered with Test and Trace since mass testing was rolled out in October, the National Audit Office (NAO) has found.

Boris Johnson promised the £37billion system would be ‘world-beating’, but it continues to rely on highly paid private consultants while failing to meet targets.

More than a year since its launch, auditors say there is still much work to be done to ‘deliver value for taxpayers’.

Labour called the latest findings ‘damning’ and said it was ‘astounding’ that 595million tests had gone unaccounted for.

Ministers had hoped the expansion of lateral flow tests, which can return results within 30 minutes, would help people to return to workplaces.

The tests are available to order online or pick up from local pharmacies, with the aim of making it as easy as possible for people.

A rapid antigen test or lateral flow home testing kit.
Just 14% of the 691million tests handed out were registered with Test and Trace were registered (Picture: Getty Images)

According to the NAO’s ‘Test and Trace in England – progress update’ report published today, Test and Trace bosses had forecasted that between March and May this year 655million lateral-flow tests would be used in the UK.

While almost 700 million have been given out in England, the watchdog said ‘only a small proportion of the tests distributed have been registered as used’.

The report, covering November 2020 to April 2021, said: ‘NHS T&T does not know whether the tests that have not been registered have been used or not.

Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said the lack of registrations was a ‘pressing challenge; that needed addressing.

He said some ‘pressing challenges need to be tackled’ if the system is to ‘achieve its objectives and deliver value for taxpayers, including understanding how many lateral flow devices are actually being used and increasing public compliance with testing and self-isolation’.

Describing the report as ‘damning’, Labour shadow health minister Justin Madders said: ‘If lateral flow tests are going to play their part in helping society reopen, ministers need to make sure results are registered.

‘The British people have sacrificed so much. The Government needs to step up.’

Auditors also found that Test and Trace’s performance for returning the result of tests taken in the community within 24 hours ‘fell well below its target’ during the winter spike in coronavirus cases in December.

Only 17% of people received their results within a day in December, a figure that had been scaled up to 90% by April.

Packet of COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test kits. Also known as the Lateral Flow Test, the self test can be carried out in 30 minutes at home by people without symptoms to find out if they are carrying the virus.
The system is supposed to be ‘world-beating’ but auditors say ‘pressing challenges need to be tackled’ (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The NAO found the scheme had an underspend of £8.7billion, almost 40% of its overall budget. Its bill for 2020-21 came in at £13.5billion.

The operation told auditors the underspend was because a predicted high level of demand for testing in January and February did not materialise due to the third national lockdown.

The delay in the rollout of mass testing to all households from January to March also contributed to the underspend, as did some commercial savings, the NAO was told.

Auditors found that 45% of staff at Test and Trace’s central office were consultants at the mid-April mark.

The average utilisation rate for its laboratories – a measure of productivity and efficiency – was only 45% between November 2020 and April 2021 – almost half the threshold deemed safe.

Meanwhile the amount awarded in terms of contract value more than doubled from £1.1billion in April-June 2020 to £2.6billion in January-March 2021.

Until April, the Test and Trace programme was run by former Talk Talk boss Baroness Dido Harding – a candidate to become the next NHS chief executive.

Senior fellow at the Nuffield Trust, Dr Billy Palmer, said: ‘Test and trace is now over a year old but is still falling seriously short of its performance targets despite the eye-watering cost to the taxpayer.

‘The £14billion price tag so far remains a concern. This report highlights expensive contracts and underused resources such as laboratories and contact tracers.

‘More work is needed to ensure the potential benefits of this vast investment are future-proofed.’

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: ‘NHS Test and Trace has played an essential role in combating this pandemic and the NAO has recognised many of the rapid improvements we have made in the short lifespan of this organisation.

‘The testing and tracing being delivered across the country is saving lives every single day and helping us send this virus into retreat by breaking chains of transmission and spotting outbreaks wherever they exist.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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