Coronavirus test results in North Yorkshire are taking “far too long”, according to a shadow minister.

Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central and shadow minister for digital, culture, media and sport, told the House of Commons yesterday only 16% of test results in North Yorkshire were being returned after 24 hours.

She added 60 per cent were returned in 48 hours and 96% after 72 hours, quoting figures from North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which is a partnership of organisations that tackles emergencies in the county.

Ms Maskell told MPs during the covid debate:

“That is too long to wait to lock down the virus.

“If we could process those tests locally—test locally and process locally—we could have the results overnight.”

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Ms Maskell said a localised system of public health, rather than the current service provided by Serco under contract from the Department of Health and Social Care, would provide a quicker and more effective response. She said:

“A quick response is key to getting on top of the virus—testing quickly, contact tracing quickly and isolating the virus quickly.”

‘We recognise there is more to be done’

The Stray Ferret asked the DHSC to respond to Ms Maskell.

It referred us to comments last week from Baroness Dido Harding, interim executive chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, which acknowledged turnaround times could be better.

Baroness Harding said:

“As the number of cases rise, we are seeing NHS test and trace processing more tests and reaching more people than ever before.

“We are expanding the reach of our service and improving performance in key areas such as turnaround times for tests as we continue to increase capacity, but we recognise there is more to be done.”

A permanent coronavirus testing centre was set up in the Harrogate District last month.

The Dragon Road site, which is managed by Serco, is capable of carrying out up to 320 tests per day and operates seven days a week.

A Serco spokesperson said:

“Serco does manage the test site but we do not manage the processing of the tests and the results, or the laboratories. That is all managed by others.”