Covid-19 Response

Lord Brady of Altrincham Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Obviously, being able to perform all tests within 24 hours would be a great success. We are trying, as much as possible, to shorten the amount of time it takes. The average time is much, much shorter than 96 hours, and I will write to the hon. Lady with an exact figure of the time that it takes in acute settings. It is much shorter than the time that she mentions. All test results under 24 hours would be great. Sometimes it is just a matter of minutes or hours depending on how busy the test centre is.

[Sir Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale West) (Con)]

May I return to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) and ask my right hon. Friend whether it is possible to give any specific support to care homes facing financial difficulties due to unusually high vacancy rates?

[Matt Hancock]

The answer that I tried to give at the end of my answer—perhaps too long an answer—to my hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) is that, yes, that is something on which I am working. It is not something that I am able to announce today, but I do recognise the concerns and the challenges that the social care sector faces.