COVID-19 PCR testing costs

Department of Health and Social Care did not have the information requested.

Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

I'd like to know, in the past 6 months:
a. How many COVID-19 PCR tests have been done in England?
b. Has the NHS done these tests in-house, or is testing contracted to external companies?
b(i). In each case, could you provide the average cost per test? If an external company is used, could you provide information on the contract awarded to them?

If you only have some or none of the information requested, could you let me know which NHS organisation may hold this information?

Yours faithfully,

M. Owens

Department of Health and Social Care

This is an acknowledgement - please do not reply to this email.

Thank you for contacting the Department of Health and Social Care. 

We are currently experiencing very high volumes of enquiries and we are
focusing our resources on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) response.

If your enquiry is in relation to the pandemic, the Government has
launched a COVID-19 ‘hub’, which can be found
at [1]www.gov.uk/coronavirus and is regularly updated. The hub offers all
the Government’s latest advice and guidance, a link to the NHS website, a
portal for those offering assistance, a tracking service displaying the
latest information on cases in the UK, and an email alert service so
people can stay up to date with all the latest measures. 

The answers to many other questions can be found on [2]GOV.UK,
the [3]Department of Health and Social Care website or by visiting
the [4]NHS website. We may not respond to you if the answer to your
enquiry can be found on either of these websites. Where a reply is
appropriate, we aim to send a response within 18 working days, or 20
working days if your query is a Freedom of Information request or
complaint.

If you have symptoms of COVID-19 you must get tested as soon as possible.
The swab test takes less than a minute and is pain-free. Results from test
sites are generally received within 24 hours of the test being
administered. Further information, including what symptoms to look out
for, can be found at [5]this website. 

If your business is interested in helping the Government increase
COVID-19 testing capacity, please visit [6]this Government website. Please
note the service that was set up for businesses to offer other
COVID-19 support has closed.

If you are a clinician looking to support the NHS with the COVID-19
response, please visit [7]this website, where you will find a variety of
required roles for both registered and unregistered individuals.

If you are a clinician who has retired within the last six years and are
considering a return to the NHS, please visit [8]this website.

If you are a member of the public wishing to volunteer during the
pandemic, please visit [9]this website for more information. 

The Department of Health and Social Care does not process complaints about
the NHS or social services. If you wish to make a complaint about a
healthcare professional, an NHS organisation or a social care provider,
please visit the [10]complaints procedure page on the Government website.

You can find out more about the Department’s commitments from
our [11]Personal Information Charter.

 

 

 

 

This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
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permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
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message are not necessarily those of the Department of Health and Social
Care. Please note: Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely
monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic
communications.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
2. https://www.gov.uk/
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
4. https://www.nhs.uk/
5. https://www.gov.uk/getting-tested-for-co...
6. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/help-the-gov...
7. https://www.nhsprofessionals.nhs.uk/en/r...
8. https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/r...
9. https://www.gov.uk/volunteering/coronavi...
10. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
11. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

Department of Health and Social Care

1 Attachment

Dear M Owens,

Please find attached the Department of Health and Social Care's response
to your recent FOI request (our ref: FOI-1339955).

Yours sincerely, 

Charlotte Chow
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care

show quoted sections

Dear Charlotte Chow,

Apologies for my delay. Your question was: "Could you clarify as to whether it is manufacturing,
conducting, processing, delivering of PCR tests to which you are referring?"

I'd like to know about manufacturing, conducting and processing. These figures can be provided individually or, if that's not possible, the sum of these.

Yours faithfully,

M. Owens

Department of Health and Social Care

This is an acknowledgement - please do not reply to this email.

Thank you for contacting the Department of Health and Social Care. 

We are currently experiencing very high volumes of enquiries and we are
focusing our resources on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) response.

If your enquiry is in relation to the pandemic, the Government has
launched a COVID-19 ‘hub’, which can be found
at [1]www.gov.uk/coronavirus and is regularly updated. The hub offers all
the Government’s latest advice and guidance, a link to the NHS website, a
portal for those offering assistance, a tracking service displaying the
latest information on cases in the UK, and an email alert service so
people can stay up to date with all the latest measures. 

The answers to many other questions can be found on [2]GOV.UK,
the [3]Department of Health and Social Care website or by visiting
the [4]NHS website. We may not respond to you if the answer to your
enquiry can be found on either of these websites. Where a reply is
appropriate, we aim to send a response within 18 working days, or 20
working days if your query is a Freedom of Information request or
complaint.

If you have symptoms of COVID-19 you must get tested as soon as possible.
The swab test takes less than a minute and is pain-free. Results from test
sites are generally received within 24 hours of the test being
administered. Further information, including what symptoms to look out
for, can be found at [5]this website. 

If your business is interested in helping the Government increase
COVID-19 testing capacity, please visit [6]this Government website. Please
note the service that was set up for businesses to offer other
COVID-19 support has closed.

If you are a clinician looking to support the NHS with the COVID-19
response, please visit [7]this website, where you will find a variety of
required roles for both registered and unregistered individuals.

If you are a clinician who has retired within the last six years and are
considering a return to the NHS, please visit [8]this website.

If you are a member of the public wishing to volunteer during the
pandemic, please visit [9]this website for more information. 

The Department of Health and Social Care does not process complaints about
the NHS or social services. If you wish to make a complaint about a
healthcare professional, an NHS organisation or a social care provider,
please visit the [10]complaints procedure page on the Government website.

You can find out more about the Department’s commitments from
our [11]Personal Information Charter.

 

 

 

 

This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Any views expressed in this
message are not necessarily those of the Department of Health and Social
Care. Please note: Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely
monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic
communications.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
2. https://www.gov.uk/
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
4. https://www.nhs.uk/
5. https://www.gov.uk/getting-tested-for-co...
6. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/help-the-gov...
7. https://www.nhsprofessionals.nhs.uk/en/r...
8. https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/r...
9. https://www.gov.uk/volunteering/coronavi...
10. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
11. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

Can I follow up on this?

Yours faithfully,

M. Owens

FreedomofInformation, Department of Health and Social Care

Dear Mr Owens,

Thank you for your further email.

Your request was received by DHSC on 15 July. The legal deadline for responding is therefore 12 August.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Team

show quoted sections

Department of Health and Social Care

1 Attachment

Dear M Owens,

Please find attached the Department of Health and Social Care's response
to your recent FOI request (our ref: FOI-1346961) .

Yours sincerely, 

Charlotte Chow
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care

show quoted sections