‘Hundreds’ of NHS Test and Trace staff are being let go after being left with nothing to do
- Allegedly hundreds of staff with nothing to do are being let go after only a week
- Call-handlers have been earning up to £27-a-day but many have made no calls
- The Test and Trace app may not work properly until at least September
Hundreds of staff working on NHS Test and Trace are being let go because there is nothing for them to do.
The scheme was announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock last week but already employees are finding themselves out of work.
Workers spent weeks being trained ahead of the launch but after a week they have had little work to do, despite being paid up to £27-an-hour.
Hundreds of staff working on NHS Test and Trace are being let go because there is nothing for them to do. Pictured: Executive Chair of NHS Test and Trace Baroness Dido Harding
Workers spent weeks being trained ahead of the launch but after a week they have had little work to do, despite being paid up to £27-an-hour. Pictured: A photo of the NHS Test and Trace app
One tracer, who gave up her public sector job to work for Test and Trace and has not made a single call in ten days said: ‘The Prime Minister promised a world-beating service. We are a million miles from that,’ the Sun reports.
Another tracer working with TTEC said that their job had been a waste of time because they had been sat waiting for something to do.
It is believed that hundreds of tracers will be let go and one worker for Capita confirmed that ‘swathes’ of people would be let go.
Neither TTEC nor Capita have commented on the number of workers being let go but TTEC did say that they were tailoring their personnel requirements.
Test and Trace plan: The guide on how the NHS Test and Trace workflow will be handled
MailOnline has approached TTEC and Capita for further comment.
It has also been alleged that some workers had not received any training at all by the time the scheme had launched and that they had had to wait weeks for their log-in details.
The Sun also reports that criminal record and immigration checks have not been carried out of test and trace workers who have access to personal data.
However, Serco said that DBS and right-to-work checks are taken by all Test and Trace call handlers.
The Department of Health said: ‘The majority of call handlers have cleared their DBS checks and the remainder are going through the process.’
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘Anyone who downloads an app on their phone knows it is forever being updated and bugs squashed and all the rest of it. Apps are never complete in that sense’
This follows the news earlier this week that the chief operating officer for the contact tracing system Tony Prestedge allegedly told employees the Test and Trace app was ‘imperfect and clunky’ and admitted it would not work perfectly until at least September.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘Anyone who downloads an app on their phone knows it is forever being updated and bugs squashed and all the rest of it. Apps are never complete in that sense.’
Concerns were raised almost from day one amid fears it could drain phone batteries, didn’t work on older mobiles and wouldn’t be downloaded by the elderly.