Boris Johnson has ‘let down’ pregnant women as rapid Covid tests fail to reach wards

Tens of thousands of pregnant women have been ‘let down’ by a failure to rollout promised rapid Covid tests, campaigners said last night.

On October 31, Boris Johnson promised maternity wards would be prioritised for the 15-minute tests to use on partners as a way to allow them access into wards and scans.

But more than a month later, NHS Trusts have not rolled out the tests and many have reimposed tough Covid restrictions during the second wave. 

More than 50,000 women have given birth in the meantime, many of them traumatised by having to go it alone, including one woman who was initially given assurances her partner could join her.

While being induced, she was told the staff had ‘got it wrong’ and that her partner was barred, which led to her baby’s heart rate dropping and the woman being rushed to an emergency caesarean.

‘We have been totally messed around,’ the woman said.

This newspaper is campaigning to end the scandal of women giving birth and attending scans alone and without the support of their partners. 

Announcing the test rollout in October, the Prime Minister said: ‘No woman should go through labour alone, which is why we will use testing to give women and their partners the support they need.’

NHS England could not give a single example of a Trust that has started using the rapid tests to allow partners into wards. It said on Friday: ‘We are waiting for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to allocate the tests to maternity units before they roll it out.’

DHSC said conversations are still ‘ongoing’ to determine the suitability of the tests for maternity services.

A DHSC spokesman said: ‘We are working closely with the NHS to determine how lateral flow tests can be used to safely allow visitors in maternity services.’

Joeli Brearley, of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, said: ‘Women and their partners have been let down.’