Covid tests clearly prioritised for England, Public Health Wales boss claimed in email

The Swiss firm Roche denies having an agreement with the Welsh government to supply Covid tests

The UK government "clearly prioritised" Covid tests for England in March last year, a Welsh health boss claimed in an email obtained by Channel 4 News.

Tracey Cooper of Public Health Wales said supplier Roche had been asked to "reserve" tests for use in England.

The Welsh government said it had a deal with Roche to provide 5,000 tests a day in March 2020 which collapsed, but the firm denied making such an agreement.

The UK government denies tests were unfairly allocated.

'Disappointing'

In March last year, it emerged that a Welsh government deal with a supplier to provide an extra 5,000 coronavirus tests a day had collapsed.

The Welsh government had said it was "disappointing" that a company, later identified as the Swiss firm Roche, was not able to honour a written agreement.

However Roche later said it "never had a contract or agreement directly with Wales" to supply coronavirus testing.

Wales then received tests as part of a UK-wide rollout.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething had initially announced on 21 March the Welsh government would have access to 6,000 tests a day by 1 April and 8,000 tests a day within a week.

But those targets were revised in light of the Roche announcement, before the target of 9,000 tests a day by the end of April was scrapped completely.

Tracey Cooper (middle of bottom row) was questioned by Senedd members about Covid testing last year

In May, Public Health Wales Chief Executive Tracey Cooper told Senedd members that PHW had been in discussions with Roche to secure the 5,000 tests a day for Wales, but suggested that the tests did not come after the UK government stepped in.

In June, Welsh ministers refused to publish correspondence with Roche over the alleged collapsed deal because doing so would be "likely to prejudice relations with the UK government."

But in an email from 22 March 2020 obtained through further Freedom of Information requests by Channel 4 News, Dr Cooper tells Wales' senior health officials that PHW had been in discussions with Roche since 2 March 2020.

Dr Cooper states in the email that "discussions had progressed" but "the team had found it hard to pin Roche down to a written agreement".

She adds that PHW understood Roche had been called into a meeting with the UK government, and "we understand that they were instructed to reserve all the additional tests they had to be used in England and after that, by agreement with [the devolved administrations]".

Dr Cooper claims this was then confirmed to her by a director at Public Health England (PHE) who had been tasked with striking a UK government deal with Roche.

In a separate email exchange obtained by Channel 4 News, Dr Cooper outlines a "trade-off" that was then agreed with PHE where a piece of equipment from the Welsh Blood Service would be supplied to England for testing support in exchange for "no less than 5,000 tests" for Wales.

Testing has been a key part of the Welsh government's strategy to combat Covid

But writing to Welsh senior health officials Dr Cooper states that after a four-nations call, PHE "intercepted" a Welsh order of 5,000 tests from Roche on 22 March 2020 and instructed companies that all tests should go to UK government departments for distribution.

Dr Cooper claims that the "political context in England" meant the UK government's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSE) was being given "clear instruction to allocate what now transpires to be only 5,000 Roche Covid-19 tests for the whole of the UK".

She claims that the UK government "clearly prioritised the use of a company's testing for the purposes of England's allocation".

'National scandal'

In response to the emails revealed by Channel 4 News, Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said Wales's efforts against Covid had been "deliberately undermined by the UK government during the crucial first months of the pandemic".

"This is nothing short of a national scandal that shows the extent to which Westminster treats Wales with contempt," he said.

"We urgently need answers as to why the Labour Welsh government chose to stay silent instead of speaking out against the harmful actions of the Tory UK government."

Welsh Labour has been asked to comment.

A DHSC spokesperson said: "It is untrue that testing resources were unfairly allocated at the beginning of the pandemic or that England's testing needs were prioritised over any other nation.

"In March 2020, a UK-wide approach to testing was agreed with the four nations, including Wales. This combined approach significantly increased the buying power of the UK as a whole, leading to an improved ability to secure the resources required for each nation.

"A UK-wide testing programme has always been at the heart of the government's testing strategy, with tests allocated fairly per population to ensure equitable access to testing for everybody in all four nations."