Majority want testing programme run by NHS

New polling has found that three quarters of the British public want to see the government’s programme of mass testing run by the NHS and public health protection teams rather than private companies.

The research found that 78 per cent of people want to see the logistics of the programme, dubbed Operation Moonshot, run by the NHS and local public health protection teams, compared to just 11 per cent who want it run by a private company like Serco or G4S.

Campaign group We Own It, who commissioned the polling, said it was time for a different approach to the coronavirus testing and tracing scheme.

Serco continues to miss the targets set by SAGE for contacts traced, managing only an average of 58.6 per cent compared to its target go 80 per cent. It was very recently revealed that Serco have been awarded an additional £45 million contract to add additional testing centres.

Pascale Robinson said: “It is now clear beyond all doubt, that the government’s test, track and trace system is in complete disarray. It’s putting people’s lives at risk and it’s frankly unacceptable. A major factor in this failure is the fact that the government has hived off so much of its pandemic response to private companies like Serco, Deloitte and Sitel. With coronavirus cases rising and the country facing tightening restrictions, lives are needlessly being put at risk.  

“So it beggars belief that in the government’s new programme - designed to finally get a handle on the problem - they’re planning on rewarding the same companies already making a mess with brand new contracts. It’s time for the government to face reality. It’s time the pandemic response was given to the people who know what they’re doing - the NHS and local public health protection teams.”