Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June to Question 48980, why the contract with Deloitte for covid-19 testing did not require that company to report positive cases to Public Health England; and to local authorities, and what steps his Department took to ensure that this information was available to Public Health England and local authorities.

Deloitte’s role has focused on work to help set up testing facilities, home and satellite delivery channels and designing the digital platform that enables people to book a test and register their kit. Deloitte does not have a role in the generation of results, handling of results data or the digital flow of results data. This is carried out by NHS.

Results are generated in our laboratories and are then passed to the National Pathology Exchange, NHS Digital and the NHS Business Service Authority where results are communicated back to individuals. Results are also sent to Public Health England who then communicate positive case information to Directors of Public Health.