Wales to loan four million LFT tests to England amid shortage, Mark Drakeford says
Wales will loan four million Lateral Flow Tests to England amid a shortage there, Mark Drakeford has said.
It comes after UK pharmacies and scientists warned that the lack of LFT tests in England was becoming a “huge” problem, as they were being requested every five minutes to deal with the Omicron surge in cases.
In a statement, Mark Drakeford said that “demand for PCR tests and for lateral flow devices continues to rise and has reached new record levels”.
“Wales has a significant stock of lateral flow tests, sufficient to meet our needs over the weeks ahead,” he said.
“The Health Minister has agreed today to loan a further four million such tests to the English NHS, bringing that mutual aid to 10 million lateral flow tests.
“Distribution of lateral flow test kits through home delivery and pharmacies remains the responsibility of the UK Government and we are working with it, as it increases the capacity of the system.”
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid had earlier said that the UK Government will triple the supply of lateral flow tests to 300 million per month by February, but added that as current shortages persist “we expect to need to constrain the system at certain points over the next two weeks”.
He advised the public should take a test “when engaging in activities that carry the greatest risk, and before coming into contact with people at risk of serious illness”.
Leyla Hannbeck, the chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, had told BBC Radio 4 that the “scale of the problem is huge because the demand is high, because of the current guidelines”.
“People are doing the responsible thing by wanting to be tested. And we are in the Christmas area of time and the new year is just around the corner and people want to be with family and friends,” she said.
Professor Ravi Gupta, clinical microbiologist at the University of Cambridge, earlier told Sky News the lack of available tests was “a great concern”.
“Because, of course, we already have so many cases that therefore the probability of an individual being in a social environment on New Year’s Eve and being positive, even if they have potentially tested negative in the last 24 hours, is fairly high,” he said.
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Well done – this new 🦠knows no borders and we are so fortunate that Senedd politicians of all – well most backgrounds here have be working together in supporting our nhs.
I wonder if they would do the same for us if we were had shortages ?
I have my doubts, do you?
If there was a similar shortage in Wales and a similar surplus in England, then yes I’m sure they would. The border is porous, and a shortage of tests in either country could adversely affect the other.
Wales has been supplying English shortages since the very beginning of the pandemic. Ten million items of PPE had been loaned to England by July 2020 because England had “significant challenges in organising themselves”.
An interesting question 🤔….I’m sure if the motive was to embarrass the WGvt the answer might be Yes.
My guess is that they’d use it for anti Welsh propaganda.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-18-billion-a-year-for-wales-in-budget I think they would.
That wasn’t the question and that amount is not even a whisper of what is owed.
Err they did the uk government purchased them in the first place from Innova Medical Group. That’s how we have tests in the first place.
Perhaps best not to pretend you are one of the ‘we’. Your comments suggest you are one of ‘them’.
If Wales has plenty of LFT why is there a shortage in our local pharmacies?
Another good campaign point Linda –
— well done – this sort of fact check evidence is a useful contribution to keeping your nemesis Mark Drakeford in check ….
… .oh perhaps you can share where these gaps are so they can be followed up ?
We have a few folk making mischief for the NHS currently…..dreadful isn’t it ..
Mark Drakeford is not my nemisis. I was just pointing out there are shortages in the pharmacies here with no mischief intended. Mark Drakeford is doing a tremendous job.
Really ? I take it you are a Momentum supporter like he is.
Please accept my apology Linda.
You must be a different Linda to
the other one who appears in other recent discussion chains……
…..we still await the info you have re shortages …
. If the case …a need to share and repair the absence
In the week before Xmas, Boots and Well in Aberystwyth has notices reporting that they had no Test available. Being risk averse I have not been into town this week to see if that has changed.
Demand is rocketing. There is a short term supply issue as they adjust the scale of the enterprise.
Wales subsidising England again I see…….
Please send memo to Fabricant et al.
What would be said if the English NHS loaned tests to the Welsh NHS?
after the way the inglish government has treated Wales over the pandemic, I wouldn’t lend them a pile of used bog roll.
Wow you sound Educated 👌
Are you sure you want a system that says “We’re withholding medical supplies because 48.2% of voters in your country voted for charlatans.”?
In medical ethics, patients’ clinical needs take precedence over politics. That’s why Germany is assisting the Netherlands with hospital beds for COVID-19 patients and Wales is assisting England with test kits. Cross-border co-operation is the Right Thing To Do.
Spell checkers were invented just for you.
Trouble is online home deliveries are managed by Gov.uk. so if you live in Wales you have to rely on them. Everything great till you have to wait for a code that never arrives to confirm your home delivery and local pharmacies always out of stock when you ask
Hope this most generous gesture by the Welsh govt also includes a supply of freshly brushed wigs for a certain staffordshire tory MP 😉
Substitute a different vowel in the final syllable of his surname …
Touché, or is that, toupee, lol.. 😆
Just add some money to Barnett Formula. Wales takes more than it gives year on year.
Wales has never had a penny. It is the colonialist mentality that insists countries control other to help them. The reality is one of relentless looting.
If this was the other way around and England was sending LFT to Wales you’d have WS Simon Hart WTL Andrew RT Davies point scoring.and stating how lucky Wales was to be part of this British Union.
How exactly do you loan LFT tests? You mean the welsh government gave them away don’t you.
I dought very much that you will see that I’m the English papers
Is Simon Hart going to make a statement about this loan? He likes to issue statements about what the Wales Government is up to
And one from Fatty Davies too.
He likes to get his 10p at all times.
They’ve both been strangely quiet on this.
Nice gesture, but none available in Wales