Outsourcing firms miss 46% of Covid contacts in England's worst-hit areas

[Northerner]

Outsourcing companies leading the government’s flagship test-and-trace system have failed to reach nearly half of potentially exposed people in areas with the highest Covid infection rates in England, official figures show.

In the country’s 20 worst-hit areas, Serco and Sitel – paid £200m between them – reached only 54% of people who had been in close proximity to an infected person, meaning more than 21,000 exposed people were not contacted.

In Bradford, 42% of exposed people were reached, with 3,691 of those potentially infected not traced. In Birmingham, which was on Friday placed on the national watch list after a sharp rise in cases, 52% of close contacts were reached and 1,462 missed.

The figures will prompt further scrutiny of Serco and Sitel’s roles in running a large chunk of the system. The two private firms were paid an initial £192m for the first three months of the programme, with the value of the contract reaching £730m over 12 months. Their contracts had been due to expire on Sunday but have been extended by the government.

Outsourcing firms miss 46% of Covid contacts in England's worst-hit areas

Serco and Sitel paid £200m to test and trace, but reach just over half of infected people’s contacts in some regions

www.theguardian.com

 

[mikeyB]

That's typical of this government. Instead of sacking them for inefficiency, extend their contract. Scotland has not employed any private company to run test and trace, and still does a better job of following up contacts at a fraction of the cost.