Public health chiefs “escalating” concerns over Milton Keynes test and trace issues

A meeting at MK Council this week heard that the local public health team has been struggling to cope with the number of referrals it has been receiving in recent days.

There is also another problem that some of the referrals are coming through to the local team too late, and even nearly at the end of the crucial 14 day period where someone with symptoms is infectious.

Cllr Alice Jenkins (Cons, Danesborough & Walton), who chaired Wednesday’s meeting of the heath and adult care scrutiny committee, spoke of a large time lag in some referrals.

“It takes a couple of days to get a test, so you are two to three days into your symptoms by then.

“It then takes two to three days to get a result back.

“Then it’s seven days until the local authority are passed it for the locally enhanced service.

“By then, you are very nearly at the 14 day period when people stop being symptomatic and contagious.”

Vicky Head, the interim director of public health following the retirement of Muriel Scott, also leads the local contact tracing team.

Under enhanced local contact tracing arrangements they find people and ask them to self isolate if the national contact tracers can’t find them.

“I would share your concerns around the timeliness of the contact tracing,” she said.

“In theory we should be passed cases after they’ve been with the national team for 24 hours. In practice that is not what we have been seeing.

“We are seeing cases coming to us much closer towards the end of the 14 day period.”

She added: “We would like the national system to be more effective.

“The majority of people are really happy to be called. It doesn’t take a great amount of skill, so it feels appropriate for the national system.”

Only after after national contact tracers have failed to contact someone should they be passed on, she said.

But she also revealed that they have recently seen a “significant increase” of referrals in recent days and they are “escalating concerns” around that to senior Public Health England colleagues.

“We are not resourced to carry the weight of the whole of the contact tracing process for our local area,” she said.

She added that contact tracing is a “really important part of our ability to keep on top of local transmission.”

The committee is due to receive regular covid updates at its future meetings.