Local care homes were unable to test their staff after a Government cock-up led to a national recall of faulty tests.

Up to 750,000 unused coronavirus testing kits manufactured by Northern Ireland-based company Randox Laboratories had to be recalled from care homes and individuals by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), as they did not meet the required safety standards.

Toby Perkins said, “The Government’s purchasing policy for Coronavirus testing kits has been dangerously incompetent, with millions of kits ordered without the proper checks of their effectiveness and now these kits having to be recalled. This now means that care homes cannot complete the asymptomatic testing of care home staff and it could put them, and the people they care for, at risk”.

Toby had raised concerns with the Derbyshire Local Resilience Forum about the potential asymptomatic spread of the virus after reports he received that care home staff were no longer being offered weekly testing. The Department of Health & Social Care have stated that that all care homes across the country will receive their next 4- week supply of testing kits by 7th September

Toby added, “It has been reported last week that companies with close links to the Tory Party have won nearly £500 million in contracts during the pandemic without having to bid.

Randox pays Tory MP, Owen Paterson, £100,000 a year to act as an advisor and they were given their £133 million contract without any other firm being allowed to compete against them for this work. None of this sits right with me, and it has resulted in staff and residents in care homes being put at risk.”