Covid-19: Third of Portsmouth care staff test results 'not returned'

The government said tests were being processed at an "unprecedented scale"

Care homes in Portsmouth are being put in an "impossible situation" because Covid-19 test results are not being returned to staff, it has been claimed.

Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson said he was "shocked" to learn 30% of results were not being sent back to care workers in the city.

He warned the situation "could lead to disaster".

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was continuing to prioritise tests for care home staff.

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Mr Vernon-Jackson said a 30% failure rate in sending back test results was "not good enough"

Mr Vernon-Jackson said he had written to the prime minister calling for action, saying: "If staff have to wait for test results that do not arrive, and cannot work until they do, the number of people who are available to work in care homes will be put under great stress."

He said he had been assured the situation was improving, but added: "It is an impossible situation for people to run care homes safely and efficiently if they do not get the results of Covid-19 tests sent back accurately and in a timely way.

"A 30% failure rate in sending back test results is just not good enough."

A Department of Health spokeswoman said tests were being processed at an "unprecedented scale" with 225,000 a day, on average, completed in the last week.

She said: "We continue to prioritise care homes for repeat retesting, and any care home resident or member of staff with symptoms is able to immediately access a free test with more than 120,000 sent out every day."

As part of efforts to meet its target of 500,000 tests a day by the end of the month, the government announced four new laboratories in England and Wales.

Last week, Wokingham Borough Council voted to spend £120,000 on 1,000 private tests for key workers who were struggling to get a test under the public system.