Six thousand workers from the coronavirus contact tracing scheme are to be axed when the current NHS Test and Trace initial contracts expire on 23 August, the Department of Health announced yesterday. But the firms in charge of the outsourced operation, Serco and Sitel, will continue to work on the project, and get public funding for it, beyond this period. Sitel has told staff it has already won a contract extension, openDemocracy has uncovered.
The two outsourcing giants were contracted without public competition for an initial three months’ service from late May, with the contract being awarded just three days before it was due to start. Their operation has run into heavy criticism as it has been found to be contacting less than half of the contacts of people testing positive in recent weeks, and costing over £900 for each person traced.
Experts said this week that a significant improvement in community test-and-trace performance is essential if a second wave of coronavirus is to be avoided when English schools reopen in September.
