Schools in England are being "severely hampered" by delays in Covid tests for teachers, say head teachers.

Jules White, organiser of a network of over 5,000 heads, says there is growing frustration at the lack of access to testing. This means teachers have to isolate and that "serious staff shortages" could force partial closures in school.

Mr White, a West Sussex head teacher has written to England's Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to warn of disruption from delays in Covid testing. He warns that efforts to get pupils back for the autumn term are being seriously undermined by a "test and trace system that is simply not working effectively enough".

The group of head teachers, across 75 local authorities, warns that schools are struggling to cope with teachers not being able to get quickly tested for Covid-19 and find out whether they can get back to the classroom. The head teachers say this is leaving staff in isolation and "out of action".

They also warn this uncertainty about Covid cases could be further compounded by seasonal "coughs and colds" - and that urgent action is needed on testing, rather than "vague promises".

Steve Chalke, chief executive of the Oasis academy trust, said that several of the trust's school have already had to send home year groups, affecting about 1,200 pupils. He says that Covid testing needed to be available on the school site and results needed to be turned around quickly - and that eventually there would need to be routine, daily testing.

NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts in England, said staff are having to self-isolate rather than work because they cannot get tests for themselves or family members. Hospitals in London, Bristol and Leeds had raised concerns over the weekend about staff absences because of a lack of testing.

"It's clear that there are current capacity problems with the testing regime," said Chris Hopson, NHS Providers chief executive. It's not just access for tests for staff members themselves, it's also access for their family members as NHS workers have to self-isolate if their family members are unable to confirm if they have Covid-19 or not.

"The problem is that NHS trusts are working in the dark - they don't know why these shortages are occurring, how long they are likely to last, how geographically widespread they are likely to be and what priority will be given to healthcare workers and their families in accessing scarce tests."

Home Secretary Priti Patel has defended the government's record on coronavirus testing after criticism over a shortage of tests.

She told BBC Breakfast it was "wrong to say" that there were no tests available after she was asked about the long delays in trying to book a test in Bolton where the infection rate is the highest in England.

"Tests are available, you've heard me say, particularly in local lockdown areas, I've seen this myself."

She said book-in slots, mobile testing units and home-testing kits were being made available "every single day".

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Hancock said there were "operational challenges" with testing which the government was "working hard" to fix. He told MPs there had been a "sharp rise" in those seeking a test, "including those who are not eligible".

He said throughout the pandemic they had prioritised testing according to need. "I do not shirk from decisions about prioritisation," Mr Hancock said. "The top priority is and always has been acute clinical care. The next priority is social care, where we're now sending over 100,000 tests a day because we've all seen the risks this virus poses in care homes."

Downing Street acknowledged the "significant demand" for coronavirus tests but said "capacity is the highest it's ever been."

But Labour's shadow health secretary Mr Ashworth said Mr Hancock was "losing control of this virus".

"When schools reopen and people return to workplaces and social distancing becomes harder, infections rise," he said. "So extra demand on the system was inevitable, so why didn't he use the summer to significantly expand NHS lab capacity and fix contact tracing?"

Hi

Well summed up by the Mail

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...les-WEEKS.html

Parents, teachers and children will go to the back of the queue as Matt Hancock reveals plan to RATION swabs as it emerges just three of the top 49 Covid hotspots have slots available... and the shambles is set to last WEEKS

Hundreds of schools have been partially or completely closed because of coronavirus cases - both proven and suspected - leading to fears of a domino effect, resulting in parents not being able to go to work and the return of empty offices.

Figures yesterday showed that 227,075 tests were carried out across the UK in the previous 24 hours – but that was down from 231,969 on Monday and from 250,839 on Sunday.

Robert Buckland, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, speaking to BBC Breakfast, said the government would "do whatever it takes to make sure we have that capacity" and there was a "big determination within government" to improve the system and minimise disruption.

He said testing centres would be increasing from about 400 to 500* in the next few weeks and the government was opening laboratories "across the country"**.