Socialist Party Wales Socialism In Wales
By Dave Reid
Hundreds of people in Covid-hit Rhondda Cynon Taff were turned away from a local Serco-run testing centre after the UK government had imposed a quota of just 60 tests because of high demand in England that the private corporations contracted to process the tests could not cope with. This happened despite when Rhondda Cynon Taff is on the verge of a local lockdown and the testing is vital to contain the virus.
The scandalous events in the Rhondda on Friday night has brought to the surface the shambolic testing system in Wales in which private companies contracted by the UK government are refusing to test people who are then being instructed to go to testing centres in England and Scotland.
Tests in Wales are carried out mainly by the Lighthouse scheme provided by the UK Tory government with some additional centres being provided by the Welsh government. Test and trace is vital to contain the virus as we move towards the dangerous winter period.
The contact tracing in Wales is carried out in the public sector by local councils working with the NHS and is relatively efficient compared to the privately-run tracing system run by the UK government in England (90% successful v 50% in England). The problems with the private tracing system in England are well documented – being run as a private call centre rather than a public health facility.
But for contact tracing to be effective we need efficient and prompt test results to be available. This is where the system in Wales falls apart. Because the testing has been outsourced via the UK government to the Lighthouse scheme run by companies like Serco and Deloitte (an accountancy firm!), it cannot keep up with demand and is very inefficient, booking appointments for some Welsh patients in places like Inverness and Exeter.
On Friday the demand across the UK was so great the UK government imposed a limit on the number that the Rhondda centre could conduct to just 60, even though Rhondda Cynon Taff has had such a spike in case that it was expected to go into lock-down any time and testing is absolutely crucial to prevent a further rise in cases.
Under pressure the 60-test limit was raised to 120, but once the 120th test was completed Serco went home! The events were described in a series of tweets by Will Hayward at Wales Online (below).
The Welsh Ambulance Service, RCT Council and Cwm Taf Health Board was mobilised to set up a temporary operation over-night. Ambulance crew carried out the tests and health board labs will test the samples. But this testing is outside the Lighthouse scheme and meant that people had to be told locally to just turn up at the centre and queue without an appointment.
Clearly the privately-run testing system has virtually collapsed and is obstructing efforts to contain the disease.
The Welsh government must step in to break the log-jam in testing created by the private sector contractors. These big corporations – all donors to the Tory party (and to New Labour in the past) – have no interest in public health or containing Covid. They will only provide a service if they can make a profit from it and walk away if their limited contract is fulfilled.
The Lighthouse system is a standing joke. Their test centres in Wales must be taken over and run by the NHS with an expansion in NHS labs that were cut back by the Welsh Labour government in the past.
