NHS Test and Trace

NHS Test and Trace was a government-funded service in England, established in 2020 to track and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The programme is part of the UK Health Security Agency; the service and the agency are headed by Jenny Harries.

The service was the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Minister of State for Social Care. It has devolved to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Innovation at that ministry. The initial budget for the service was £15 billion, rising to £22bn in November 2020, and a further £15bn was allocated for 2021–2022 to bring the total for the two years to £37bn. Routine contact tracing was halted on 24 February 2022 when the service was closed.

The service provided temporary sites where samples are taken from individuals, processed the samples at newly created network of laboratories, and communicated the results; infected people were instructed to isolate themselves from others and asked to provide details of their recent close contacts, who are also told to isolate. Almost all of the work was outsourced to consultants and contractors, although some of the laboratories involve other government bodies and universities. NHS Test and Trace was separate from the pre-existing infection control function of Public Health England, which worked with NHS laboratories.