Byline Times reports that the Government’s COVID-19 ‘Test and Trace’ system, run by Baroness Dido Harding, has broken a commitment to MPs by bolstering its ranks with more private sector consultants, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO).
The NAO ‘progress report’ into the England’s testing and contract-tracing system, for the November 2020 to April 2021, reveals that in this period private sector consultants accounted for more than half (51%) of the Test and Trace staff base, falling to 45% by mid-April. However, even despite this reduction, the number of consultants employed on the Test and Trace scheme in April (2,239) was still higher than in December (2,164).
This violates a commitment previously made by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and the Test and Trace operation, to reduce its reliance on external consultants.
Full story in The Byline Times, 25 June 2021
