The professional body representing laboratory staff, the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS), has expressed concerns over the plans – revealed to trade unions by Dido Harding – for the first of … Read more
Diagnostics
The Guardian reports that the government’s £22bn test-and-trace system has failed to reach more than 100,000 people exposed to coronavirus in England’s worst-hit areas since the second wave began with … Read more
Almost three in four people think failing private contractors Serco and Sitel should be booted out of their role running so-called “NHS Test and Trace” according to a Survation poll, as … Read more
This article gives an overview of the failures that have taken place when non-NHS organisations (private and not-for-profit) have been awarded contracts to run NHS services. Failures have taken place … Read more
Dido Harding, the Government’s testing czar, has suggested that the daily “moonshot” tests for Covid-19 which will allow people to resume normal life will not be available on the NHS. Instead she … Read more
The Guardian reports that the privately-run laboratories that analyse swabs from people in the community, including care homes, were stretched to capacity even in late August, and were unable to … Read more
The Doctors’ Association has criticised the coronavirus testing system as “an utter shambles” after collecting a dossier of cases where the system has led to long journeys and considerable waits … Read more
The UK’s test-and-trace system for coronavirus has a backlog of nearly 200,000 swabs, resulting in samples being sent to laboratories in Italy and Germany as the Government’s privately run system struggles … Read more
Allyson Pollock, clinical professor of public health at Newcastle University and author of NHS plc: the Privatisation of Our Health Care, discusses why the government’s test, track and trace system, … Read more
Over £1 million has been spent so far on developing a Business Case for centralising pathology services in Lancashire covering four NHS trusts, according to information released under the Freedom … Read more
Rutherford Heath has signed a five year Diagnostics Services Agreement with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust worth £19.1 million. Rutherford Health, in partnership with Equitix, will provide at its facility in … Read more
The Independent reports that it has been informed by a whistleblower that dozens of shifts at one of the government’s coronavirus mega-labs have been cancelled and staff paid to stay away because … Read more
The Guardian reports that the Department of Health and Social Care is set to create a new national framework for testing which would replace current arrangements, with further details released … Read more
An investigation by journalists at The Independent into the testing for Covid-19 and reporting of test results found a number of major flaws in the process due to the setting … Read more
HSJ has revealed that King’s College Hospital FT and Guy’s and St Thomas’ FT will pay an undisclosed sum to Serco for its share of Viapath, the firm they co-own. … Read more
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep pace with the rapid changes and abrupt U-turns in government policy on how to deal with the Covid-19 crisis. The past fortnight has seen … Read more
The Observer reports that Serco was fined more than £1 million for failures on a government contract a few months ago, but was still awarded a lucrative government contract for … Read more
HSJ reports that the internal NHS email containing information on how many residents and staff have tested positive is no longer reporting test results from commercial laboratories. This lack of … Read more
Randox Laboratories which employs the prominent Conservative politician Owen Paterson as a paid consultant has been awarded a £133 million contract under the new fast-track procurement rules that mean no other companies … Read more
Staff in NHS laboratories are increasingly alarmed at the implications of the government’s turn to create a new network of “super-labs” to process what is supposed to be a rising number of … Read more
