NHS Test and Trace is still shelling out more than £1million of taxpayers’ money daily on private consultants.
After MPs had criticized the scheme as an “eye-watering” waste of money, the UK Health Security Agency published the figure weeks later. The UK Health Security Agency is failing to reduce Covid-19 infections rates.
UKHSA chief executive Dr Jenny Harries said that in July there is a detailed ramp-down program to decrease the number of costly contractors. They are paid £1,100 a day on average. Figures show that 1,230 consultants are still working at the end October. That equates to a £1,353,000 daily payout.
To reduce the spread and severity of Covid, NHS Test and Trace in England was established in May 2013. According to the Sunday Mirror, up to 10,000 call handlers and contact tracers have been informed they could lose their jobs as managers claimed there wasn’t enough money.
NHS Test and Trace is still shelling out more than £1million of taxpayers’ money daily on private consultants
NHST&T, previously led by former TalkTalk boss Baroness Harding (pictured), also had ‘muddled’ objectives, the Public Accounts Committee said weeks ago
According to the UKHSA, “We’re working hard to decrease consultants’ number without adversely affecting our health protection services.”
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth told The Guardian that there is no reason to continue with highly-paid, expensive consultants.
“Ministers need to ensure taxpayer money is used wisely for patient care, not on costly management consultants.”
The number of consultants employed by test and trace in November 2012, when they vowed to reduce it, was 51%.
Although the number of consultants has declined in the past year, they still accounted for 34% on September.
As the UK emerged from the first lockdown, NHST&T was set up last May last year to identify and reduce the spread of Covid-19.
The project was given a £37bn two-year budget, which is equivalent to a fifth of the entire annual NHS budget.
However, MPs released a shocking report that said the government has not broken Covid transmission chains or prevented lockdowns.
NHST&T, previously led by former TalkTalk boss Baroness Harding, also had ‘muddled’ objectives, the Public Accounts Committee said weeks ago.