Coronavirus: Testing for key workers 'shambolic'

A number of mobile testing sites have been set up across the country

Coronavirus testing for key workers has been branded "shambolic" after people trying to book slots were offered appointments requiring round trips of hundreds of miles.

North Durham MP Kevan Jones said one constituent was given an invitation 200 miles (320km) away in Perth, Scotland.

Another was offered a booking 130 miles (210km) away in Edinburgh, he claimed.

The government said it was working hard to make testing "fast and simple" for everyone eligible.

Labour MP Mr Jones said:"The national coronavirus testing website is shambolic, and along with Durham County Council, I am calling on the health secretary to take urgent action."

He added it was an example of Westminster "micro-managing" what happened regionally.

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Lucy Hovvels, chair of the County Durham Health and Wellbeing Board, has written to Health Secretary Matt Hancock outlining the problem.

She warned three temporary sites operating in the county since 26 April had been "hampered" with people unable to book appointments as the facilities have not been listed as being available on the official testing website.

Police involved

Having initially been advised to tell people they could register at the sites without an appointment, she said the policy has since changed and people who have travelled there "are now being turned away because they do not have the necessary appointment code".

Police "have become involved" at a site at Dalton Park, she added.

The number of tests undertaken via the mobile testing units was down 75% last weekend compared with the previous one, she added.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said more than a million people had been tested in the UK "and the vast majority report no issues with the process".

He added: "As we tackle this virus we are determined to make it fast and simple for all eligible people who need a test to get a test."