Test and Trace call handlers ‘spent just 1% of their time working’ as £22bn spent on scheme

NHS Test and Trace call handlers spent just one per cent of their time working in a bid to avert a lockdown, a damning report has found.

Some 18,000 call handlers were employed in May and £22 billion spent but much of that was frittered without proper scrutiny, the spending watchdog says.

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The National Audit Office has found call handlers’ “utilisation rate” was just one per cent as the much of the money – equivalent to a fifth of the NHS budget – was spent away on outsourced providers.

Its highly critical findings come after it was reported contact tracers were "sitting around watching Netflix".

Auditors found that in the early months, clinical staff on the NHS Test and Trace programme weren’t that busier either, spending just four per cent of their time working.

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And when it came to what the programme was set up to do, the NAO found just 32 per cent of people were reached, well below the target of 44 per cent.

Meg Hillier, chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, called on the Government to stop “throwing more money” the scheme.

“The good news about vaccines doesn’t mean we don’t need a match fit Test and Trace system now,” she said.

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The NAO report comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced people instructed to isolate by the Covid-19 app, and are eligible can claim the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment.

Defending the system he said: “We can deploy this sort of massive testing, because of the work NHS Test and Trace have done so effectively to build our vast testing capacity.”

After facing criticism, the Government cut call handlers 18,000 to 12,000 and moved remaining ones to help local authorities track down outbreaks to make the service more effective in local areas.

One contact tracer said she was paid £4,500 to sit at home, where she has streamed shows such as Breaking Bad, Below Deck and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

The woman –-who was signed up in May by Sitel - said: “I haven’t made a single call. I’ve been using the time to job hunt and watch Netflix.

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“I signed up because I wanted to do my part. I almost feel like a fraud because I’m taking Government money. They’ve just hired more people. It’s an absolute joke.”

A Department of Health  spokesman said: “Since NHS Test and Trace launched 20 per cent of people in the UK have been tested at last once, more than 41 million tests have been carried out and more than two million people have been notified to self-isolate.

“The latest figures show tracing has dramatically improved and is now reaching 85.7 per cent of contacts.”