By Ben Jamieson, ByteOnline Editor
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MPs have warned that despite the UK government assigning £37bn to the NHS Test and Trace program over the past two years, its impact is still unclear.
The Public Accounts Committee described the funding behind the programme as ‘unimaginable’, warning that the British taxpayer could be used like an ‘ATM machine. The Public Accounts Committee also brought attention to how the Test and Trace programme was established to prevent further lockdowns, and that since then another 2 lockdowns had been enforced.
Baroness Dido Harding, Head of the National Institute for Health Protection, the institute that runs the Test and Trace programme, mentioned that the programme was built entirely from scratch, and that no other comparable country was doing as many tests. She also said that the performance of the programme has been steadily improving, as more people were being reached, and more close contacts of those who have tested positive have been asked to isolate.
Public Accounts Committee chairwoman Meg Hillier said it was hard to distinguish a “measurable difference” the test and trace system had made. She also said: “The promise on which this huge expense was justified – avoiding another lockdown – has been broken, twice,”.