Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish all contracts agreed between his Department and (a) Serco, (b) Sitel Group and (c) all other commercial providers of track and trace functions.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Contracts were awarded to Serco and Sitel to provide call handling services for the contact track and trace initiative. The contracts have been published and can be found at the following links:
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/c23fdfaf-d1f2-4d8c-a0cd-6b6f35793ccd
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/7645e3ef-ce16-4cae-8932-1eb6521a50cb
Contractual penalties are often unenforceable under English law so they were not included in test and trace contracts with Serco or Sitel. Sitel and Serco are approved suppliers on the Crown Commercial Service contact centre framework and the contracts have standard performance and quality assurance processes in place. Some information on Key Performance Indicators and service levels has been redacted from these published contracts as it is considered to be commercially sensitive.
The contracts have break clauses in them, meaning if the company does not meet required service levels we may cancel the contract and reclaim our money.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department made of the performance of bidders for the covid-19 test and trace contact tracing contract on previous Government contracts.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The contracts awarded to Serco and Sitel to provide call handling services for the contact tracing initiative were made using direct awards under Lot 2 of Crown Commercial Service’s Contact Centre Services framework which was varied under Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015 Regulation 72 to allow for direct awards for COVID-19 related procurements.
Crown Commercial Service undertook a pre-procurement exercise engaging with all suppliers on Lot 2 to understand which could establish the contract centre in the volumes required and the timescales needed. All suppliers on Lot 2 were engaged with, in order to ascertain capabilities to meet the contract output specifications.
Serco and Sitel are approved suppliers on the Crown Commercial Service contact centre framework. They gained their places through fair and open competition via an Official Journal of the European Union procurement. Value for money and capability were part of the assessment criteria. The Department has put in place arrangements to ensure robust contract management in terms of performance and quality standards in line with relevant guidance.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department used to determine whether the bidders for the covid-19 test and trace contract had the necessary competencies to carry out contact tracing.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The contracts awarded to Serco and Sitel to provide call handling services for the contact tracing initiative were made using direct awards under Lot 2 of Crown Commercial Service’s Contact Centre Services framework which was varied under Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015 Regulation 72 to allow for direct awards for COVID-19 related procurements.
Crown Commercial Service undertook a pre-procurement exercise engaging with all suppliers on Lot 2 to understand which could establish the contract centre in the volumes required and the timescales needed. All suppliers on Lot 2 were engaged with, in order to ascertain capabilities to meet the contract output specifications.
Serco and Sitel are approved suppliers on the Crown Commercial Service contact centre framework. They gained their places through fair and open competition via an Official Journal of the European Union procurement. Value for money and capability were part of the assessment criteria. The Department has put in place arrangements to ensure robust contract management in terms of performance and quality standards in line with relevant guidance.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which suppliers entered bids for the contract to provide contact tracers as part of the Government's covid-19 test and trace programme.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The contracts awarded to Serco and Sitel to provide call handling services for the contact tracing initiative were made using direct awards under Lot 2 of Crown Commercial Service’s Contact Centre Services framework which was varied under Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015 Regulation 72 to allow for direct awards for COVID-19 related procurements.
Crown Commercial Service undertook a pre-procurement exercise engaging with all suppliers on Lot 2 to understand which could establish the contract centre in the volumes required and the timescales needed. All suppliers on Lot 2 were engaged with, in order to ascertain capabilities to meet the contract output specifications.
Serco and Sitel are approved suppliers on the Crown Commercial Service contact centre framework. They gained their places through fair and open competition via an Official Journal of the European Union procurement. Value for money and capability were part of the assessment criteria. The Department has put in place arrangements to ensure robust contract management in terms of performance and quality standards in line with relevant guidance.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the recommendations contained in the report published by Public Health England on 12 February 2020 entitled Recommendations on the continuing use of case-identification / contact-tracing / case and contact isolation (CCI) management to mitigate the impact of imported cases of Covid-19, which Minister in his Department considered those recommendations; and what decisions were made as a result of those recommendations.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) on 11 February 2020, Public Health England (PHE) identified a number of potential endpoints where it may be decided that contact tracing and isolation should be abandoned. PHE provided two papers which set out the potential endpoints which are available on GOV.UK at the following links:
Contact tracing and investigation of complex incidents have continued throughout the pandemic. Once there was clear evidence of widespread, sustained community transmission and the Prime Minister announced the move to the delay phase on 12 March, contact tracing was unlikely to control the outbreak alone. At this point, contact tracing was targeted where it could be most effective during this phase – focusing on the most vulnerable, for instance, carrying out contact tracing in care homes, hospitals and institutional environments. This decision to end the containment phase of the response, implement social distancing and enter the delay phase was a decision made by the Government.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he made of the potential merits of using local providers of contact tracing as part of the Government's covid-19 test and trace programme.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have always been clear that NHS Test and Trace must be local by default and that we do not operate alone – we work with and through partners across the country. Contact tracing happening at a local level is not separate to that happening at a national level – all the information provided feeds into NHS Test and Trace. This is a team effort – it will only work if national and local systems work together.
NHS Test and Trace is working, and local action to tackle outbreaks and keep people safe is a crucial part of the national service.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many do not resuscitate orders were put in place between (a) 1 February 2019 to 1 August 2019 and (b) 1 February 2020 to 1 August 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the numbers or assessment of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Decisions (DNACPR).
Agreement to a DNACPR is an individual decision and should involve the person concerned or, where the person lacks capacity, their families, carers, guardians or other legally recognised advocates. There has not been a national instruction or directive issued for blanket DNACPR decisions to be put in place. We remain clear that the blanket application of DNACPRs is unacceptable and that standards and quality of care should be maintained even in pressurised circumstances.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many do not resuscitate orders were put in place in care homes where the person died (a) from any cause and (b) with covid-19 on the death certificate between 1 February 2020 to 1 August 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the numbers or assessment of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Decisions (DNACPR).
Agreement to a DNACPR is an individual decision and should involve the person concerned or, where the person lacks capacity, their families, carers, guardians or other legally recognised advocates. There has not been a national instruction or directive issued for blanket DNACPR decisions to be put in place. We remain clear that the blanket application of DNACPRs is unacceptable and that standards and quality of care should be maintained even in pressurised circumstances.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what basis some care homes were chosen by the NHS to put do not resuscitate orders on all their residents during the height of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the numbers or assessment of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Decisions (DNACPR).
Agreement to a DNACPR is an individual decision and should involve the person concerned or, where the person lacks capacity, their families, carers, guardians or other legally recognised advocates. There has not been a national instruction or directive issued for blanket DNACPR decisions to be put in place. We remain clear that the blanket application of DNACPRs is unacceptable and that standards and quality of care should be maintained even in pressurised circumstances.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many care homes were instructed by the NHS to put in place do not resuscitate orders between 1 February 2020 to 1 August 2020; and how many people were placed under those orders.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the numbers or assessment of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Decisions (DNACPR).
Agreement to a DNACPR is an individual decision and should involve the person concerned or, where the person lacks capacity, their families, carers, guardians or other legally recognised advocates. There has not been a national instruction or directive issued for blanket DNACPR decisions to be put in place. We remain clear that the blanket application of DNACPRs is unacceptable and that standards and quality of care should be maintained even in pressurised circumstances.