Exclusive: 700 Test & Trace employees making no calls at all

11 August 2020, 12:24 | Updated: 11 August 2020, 12:34

More than 700 employees of the Test & Trace scheme are ready to work - but not a single one is actually making a call.

LBC has received a screenshot from the Test & Trace system which shows 717 tracers are available to make a call to the contact of a confirmed Covid-19 case.

But not one tracer was actually making a call at the time the screenshot was taken.

There were 926 tracers on shift at that time.

It comes as the government make changes to the system to put more responsibility on local public health teams.

Anyone who's been in contact with someone who has coronavirus could get a knock on their door if tracers haven't been able to reach them on the phone or by text.

Test & Trace employee has made no calls in four months

James O'Brien received a call James, who works at the service and revealed how little he has been given to do.

He said: "I've been on Test & Trace for four months and I still haven't got a clue what's going on.

"I have made absolutely zero calls in that four months. Not one.

"There's no data, the app doesn't work. You're told to constantly read the information they provide that changes every day, the scripts change every day. There's no communication. And I've not made one call. There's quite a few people working at the same company who are in the same boat as me."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social care told LBC: “The new NHS Test and Trace service is up and running and is helping save lives. Anyone in this country can now book a test and the majority who book a test get the results back within a day.

“We have over 27,000 contact tracers in place, who have all been trained and are fully supported in their work by public health experts.

“The public has taken their civic duty during the pandemic extremely seriously, and we need everyone to continue playing their part.”