A Guardian investigation has found that England’s test and trace service is being sub-contracted to a myriad of private companies employing inexperienced contact tracers under pressure to meet targets.
Serco, the outsourcing firm, is being paid up to £400m for its work on test and trace, but it has subcontracted a bulk of contact tracing to 21 other companies. Under a complex system, firms are being paid to carry out work.
The Guardian has found that contact tracers working for these companies had received little training, with one saying they were doing sensitive work while sitting beside colleagues making sales calls for gambling websites.
Full story in The Guardian, 14 December 2020
