Test and Trace swabs should have been overseen by GPs, study finds

The failure to involve GPs in the Test and Trace system rather than “frivolous overuse” by the public was today blamed for the chaos faced by thousands of people unable to get Covid checks.

The decision to require members of the public to swab themselves at walk-in centres, rather than having it done by healthcare professionals, was also criticised.

A study by University of Sussex researchers found the UK differed from other countries in not using GPs as “gate keepers” to ensure access to tests was directed at those most in need, such as those with symptoms.

It also criticised the lack of checks on people in isolation or quarantine, both to ensure they were complying with the rules and to assess their wellbeing.

The Lighthouse mega-labs that were set up - outside of the NHS - to process community swabs were criticised for their “inexperience”.

Many of the issues raised in the report were uncovered in an Evening Standard investigation this week into what went wrong with the Test and Trace system, and the decision not to rely upon the “small labs” and NHS labs, which have been much more efficient at processing Covid swabs than the Lighthouse labs.

Report author Professor Michael Hopkins said: “There is a lack of proper supervision in the UK testing system. Tests are offered without suitable triage by medical experts. The UK is an outlier internationally because primary healthcare are not involved in Coronavirus testing.

“The use of DIY self-swabbing by patients may lead to false negative tests and void tests where proper procedures are not followed. The result is that NHS Test and Trace is processing many more tests than other countries, yet many of these should not have been offered in the first place.”

The research, which has yet to be peer reviewed, compared the UK with Germany, Ireland, Spain, South Africa and South Korea.

It said that in the UK, coronavirus testing in the community was being delivered outside of the usual NHS structures, with access to testing and sample collection undertaken without the high levels of medical supervision seen in other countries such as Germany, Ireland and South Korea.

The decision to create a network of privately contracted Lighthouse labs “has bypassed accreditation and raises quality concerns”, though the UK has the highest testing capacity per head.

The report says the lack of a systematic follow-up of isolating or quarantining individuals, except for travellers returning from designated countries, is against World Health Organisation advice.

Co-author Dr Joshua Moon, research fellow in the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex Business School, said: “It is not right to point the finger of blame at the public for using NHS test and trace when their reaction is the logical step in trying to rule out Covid-19 so they can get back to work, school etc.

“The Lighthouse labs are struggling to cope with demand because they are newly established, unaccredited and inexperienced compared to more well-established labs mainly used in other countries, and indeed in the UK.

"These and other policy failures, such as the lack of monitoring isolation in those quarantining and limited material support for those isolating, means the UK currently lacks the tools it needs to effectively fight the coronavirus pandemic.”

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