Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what information on local support systems is provided to individuals traced through the NHS COVID-19 test, track and trace system to help them to isolate.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There is a range of support available for individuals who are told to self-isolate by National Health Service Test and Trace, either because they have tested positive for COVID-19 or have recently been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. This includes Statutory Sick Pay, subject to meeting eligibility requirements, and since 28 September a Test and Trace Support Payment of £500, introduced to support people on low incomes who are unable to work from home if they are told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace and will lose income as a result.
Individuals are informed about local support networks if they need practical, social or emotional support. As part of the information available during the application process for the Test and Trace Support Payment, either on the online form or telephone application, local authorities are also encouraged to reference any other local support that is available for people who are self-isolating, such as food packages.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many civil servants (1) were staffing, (2) joined, and (3) left, their COVID-19 testing programme in each calendar month from March to October.
Answered by Lord Bethell
NHS Test and Trace was launched on 28 May across England. The service helps identify, contain and control COVID-19, reducing its spread and saving lives.
Given the speed at which NHS Test and Trace was set up we do not have data by month as during the formulative months the organisation was reliant on secondees from across Government and movement was high. The current full time equivalent head count of NHS Test and Trace is 3,760. Due to the continuing need for flexible resourcing in the programme, this number includes contingent workers, which includes some contractors and employment agency staff.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 20 July (HL6147), whether they will publish the data on how many people (1) received test results within 24 hours, (2) who tested positive were reached within 24 hours for non-complex cases, and (3) who were identified as contacts were reached within 24 hours for non-complex cases only.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government publishes testing data in an online-only format at GOV.UK. These statistics cover tests?, cases and deaths to lower tier local authority level, as well as weekly NHS Test and Trace statistics on those reached by the system, how many have been contact traced and testing/tracing turnaround time.
This includes data on how many people received test results within 24 hours and those who were identified as contacts who were reached within 24 hours for non-complex cases. However, data on the number of people who tested positive who were reached within 24 hours for non-complex cases is not specifically collected in the format requested.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many COVID-19 tests that have been sent through the post were (1) analysed in UK laboratories, and (2) sent overseas for analysis, in May.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In May 2020, 66,648 tests were sent to the United States after an operational issue temporarily held back our laboratory network, which impacted the total number of samples that could be processed. We worked hard to resolve these issues and capacity was restored.
The Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT-1) national surveillance study currently sends 150,000 tests per month to Germany for processing as part their agreement with the testing provider.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional buildings and facilities on the Royal Sussex County hospital site will be covered by the Prime Minister's announcement on 11 August of £300 million being made available to NHS trusts to upgrade accident and emergency facilities.
Answered by Lord Bethell
As part of the £300 million announced for accident and emergency (A&E) department upgrades on 11 August, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has been awarded £3.7 million, of which Royal Sussex County Hospital will be receiving an £1.85 million for its A&E and same day emergency care capacity project.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what comparative analysis they have undertaken of the success rates of COVID-19 contract tracing applications in other countries against that of the NHS Test and Trace scheme; and what plans they have to publish any such analysis.
Answered by Lord Bethell
A large number of other countries have launched apps and we have been in close contact with a number of these countries to share what we are learning. We have been working in collaboration with other app development teams across the world - including Ireland, Germany, Italy, Denmark, and New Zealand to exchange ideas. This includes sharing information on download rates and other information on how apps are being used as tools in the response to COVID-19.
Like the United Kingdom, many countries are working on solutions that best support local systems while taking into account cultural and societal differences, and ultimately each country will have to adapt its approach to digital contact tracing to its own local context, including integration with its own test and trace programme.
The success of a contact tracing app will depend on a multitude of factors, including public trust, the reproduction number (R) of the country, and societal context.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) social, (2) economic, and (3) demographic, trends they have identified among those who have not been successfully traced via the NHS Test and Trace system; and what plans they have to implement measures to (a) target specific groups, and (b) use different methods of communication, to ensure that underrepresented groups are contact-traced.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Contact Tracing Advisory Service is undertaking work to evaluate valid postcodes gathered through the service and are broken down across a range of trends to cover social, economic, and demographic factors, including includes analysis of valid and non-valid postcodes.
The service conducts research across different communities, including those hard to reach and areas of multiple deprivation; in order to understand the customer experience and difficulties encountered when engaging with it to continually improve the service.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports that over 20 per cent of those traced by the NHS COVID-19 test, track and trace system could not be reached, what plans they have to adjust the system to take into account the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies' advice that the threshold for effectiveness per index case is 80 per cent.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government launched its NHS Test and Trace service on 28 May 2020 to control the rate of reproduction (R), reduce the spread of the virus and save lives.
The contact tracing process starts as soon as NHS Test and Trace receive notification that someone has tested positive for COVID-19. The NHS Test and Trace service contacts people by text message, email or phone, including sending reminder messages and calls. We are reaching the close contacts of thousands of positive cases, where their contact details are known by the positive index case, and we are encouraged by the progress so far and user feedback.
Data published on 9 July shows that since 28 May, 75.7% (23,796) of people who tested positive (and had their case transferred to NHS Test and Trace) were reached and asked to provide contact details of recent, close contacts. Of the contacts identified through NHS Test and Trace, 85.1% (144,501) were reached and advised to self-isolate. Work is ongoing to understand, evaluate and continuously improve the test and trace programme and its effectiveness.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish a comprehensive strategy to clear the backlog of hospitalisations that are unrelated to COVID-19; and what plans they have for consultation with stakeholders to achieve this outcome.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Guidance has already been issued to the National Health Service on the process of starting to restore urgent non-COVID-19 services. NHS England and NHS Improvement also continue to work with the Royal Colleges and other key stakeholders to ensure that this is done as quickly and as safely as possible within the available capacity.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government on average what percentage of COVID-19 postal tests are retuned within (1) seven days, (2) five days, and (3) 48 hours.
Answered by Lord Bethell
To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet Testing – note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library