Rosalind Franklin Lab How Britain S Covid Megalab Flagship Crashed

Announcing the project in November 2020, then-Health Minister Matt Hancock said the project “confirms the United Kingdom as a world leader in diagnostics”. But less than 18 months later, the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory – named in honor of the famous British scientist – is plagued by failure, costing almost double its 58 588 million budget, according to The Independent. Instead of being at the forefront of the battle against Covid, the project opened six months late, tackling a range of equipment, personnel and construction issues, with only 20 per cent of its advertising capacity achieved. Now, as the government closes its “lighthouse” test laboratories as part of its “live with Covid” plan, leaving the Leamington Spa as its last laboratory, there are questions about the site’s future – and whether it will be able to to meet the testing needs of the nation on its own if another deadly Covid wave occurs.

“Mass repulsions”

The project was announced as a flagship for the new UK Health Insurance Agency (UKHSA), which succeeded the Public Health of England as the body responsible for protecting the public from infectious diseases and overseeing Covid testing in the UK. The 220,000-square-foot area, which is hailed as the largest test unit of its kind in Europe, was to open the first of its treatment lines in January 2021, the culmination of the second wave of the Covid-19. By June of that year, nine of the 12 lines were to be operational. However, it was not until July 13 that the laboratory officially opened, with only one line running. It was acknowledged that four of the lines would never be built, despite officials placing and receiving orders for test equipment worth millions, sources involved in setting up the lab told the Independent. “The Ministry of Health said that this was the plan for a long time. “That was absolutely not the plan,” said a former senior scientist. The location of Rosalind Franklin Laboratory at Leamington Spa (Department of Health and Social Welfare) Confidentialists say construction delays also played a role, while efforts to avoid equipment certification to speed up the process stopped at 11 a.m., contributing to “huge delays”. The UKHSA said the allegations were untrue. Experts believe that these delays could have been avoided if the RFL had hired scientists and clinicians with relevant experience from the beginning of the project, instead of relying on private consultants whose knowledge of working in the NHS was “almost non-existent”. . According to emails seen by The Independent, 31 laboratory support technicians were informed last summer – days before they started work – that they would be paid to stay home indefinitely due to delays, costing the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds. Another 700 employees were at the retainer last summer, but had not yet started working. The staff “is all about short-term contracts,” said a senior scientist overseeing the UK’s Lighthouse Lab network. “This creates problems for the workshops, because if you have a short-term contract and the long-term job shows up, of course you will move on.”

“Spiral cost”

His total budget was set at 8 588 million, according to internal figures from June 2021. But by May of that year, 500 500 million had already been spent, with the cost “rising”, said the former senior scientist. As of November, the site was hundreds of millions of pounds above budget, according to another person familiar with the project’s finances. As of February, estimates put the cost of the project at 1 1.1 billion, according to a Treasury Department source, who said the cost was now out of control. The UKHSA said it did not recognize those numbers. Our Supporters Program sponsors special reports on topics that matter. Click here to fund more public interest journalism In fact, government officials do not have a clear picture of how much has been spent on the project, according to a Treasury Department secret and a consultant working to review the future of the lab. Prior to the launch of the site, when it became clear that the RFL would not be built in its original size, procurement teams were pressured to break supplier contracts and “delete orders” for equipment worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. they say. “We were told without precarious terms to never provide things like long-term equipment delivery schedules, because that could be seen as a promise to the supplier to keep the original agreement in court,” said the former senior scientist, who helped oversee the procurement. laboratory. The Independent said that efforts were made by the Ministry of Finance to “pull the plug” on the project due to the spiral cost, but he was convinced against it. The site is now “under scrutiny” by HMT officials. The Ministry of Finance declined to comment. Professor Colin Fink, medical director at the private diagnostic firm Microbiology, said: “It was all too late, really. “We could have done it for a tenth of the price. They did not want us to get involved at all.”

‘It keeps breaking’

By last October, the lab had developed the millionth Covid test. According to the government’s plans, there was hope that the RFL would work with 100,000 samples a day – revised from 300,000. In contrast, the lab typically processed just 11,500, according to the analysis. Although this has increased in the coming months, scientists’ estimates raise the average to 25,000 to 30,000 a day. The lab has never processed more than 65,000 tests in 24 hours, 22 percent of its original capacity. Sources say the tests were hampered by repeated mechanical malfunctions. A former lab worker questioned whether the machines, which are “very sophisticated and expensive”, were designed to operate 24 hours a day. “Some were out of action at least once a week,” they said. Another source said “machines [were] breaking constantly, at a rate that should not happen “. A third said mechanical problems occurred on a daily basis. The UKHSA said the equipment was regularly inspected and that several machines allowed tests to continue in the event that one broke. Health Secretary Sajid Javid during a visit to Rosalind Franklin Laboratory last year (Tim Hammond / Downing Street 10) If machines break down during a night shift, staff are expected to call U.S. support teams to try to repair the equipment. “This is done via WhatsApp Video and can take two to three hours, during which time everything is put on hold,” said a former senior laboratory official. Concerns have also been expressed that items used for equipment, such as pipette tips, are not compatible with the machines. This “means that they operate out of specification, so the manufacturers do not guarantee the validity of the results,” said a senior administrative source overseeing the entire lab. The former official said “tens of thousands” of tests had been diverted elsewhere to the government’s network of “lighthouses” of private laboratories, including the Milton Keynes site, as a result of repeated mechanical failures and lack of capacity. About 217,000 samples were removed from the lab from September last year to mid-March due to scheduled and unplanned conditions, the UKHSA said. This is “a safe and common place for businesses,” a spokesman added. However, despite staff awareness that equipment breaks regularly, leading to invalid test results, such failures are not always reported to the UKHSA, say laboratory experts. “There is a suspicion among some of the lab staff that this kind of incident… is somewhat routine,” said a senior administrative source, referring to cases of contamination of samples that had been “brushed under the rug”. The UKHSA said it did not acknowledge the allegations. In the vast majority of cases, incorrect results are detected by the quality control and evaluation teams of the laboratory, so the original sample is re-tested. However, some false negatives and positives have slipped under the radar and were only detected afterwards after the results were returned to the public, according to three separate sources, including one with knowledge of the laboratory test verification system. The UKHSA said it did not acknowledge the allegations. Last June, after updating software in the lab’s test systems, about 1,900 samples were infected during processing and deemed invalid. After resolving the issue, the affected audience members were informed of the error and told to retake their exams.

“I’m sitting around”

Newcomers to the lab, many of whom are high school or college graduates, have little experience in handling the types of machines used in the RFL and need to be taught how to use them. However, the lab does not have trainers to do this, according to a former lab worker. A senior official said junior staff were being treated “quite badly”, which “dramatically affected morale”, while a former staff member said site cleaners slept regularly all night in the RFL well-being area. The workers say that their time in the laboratory is characterized by intense pressure followed by shifts with very little to do. There were examples of some employees working 11-hour shifts. In other cases, the groups were left to “sit for 10 hours at a time” due to lack of samples. Staff have spent much of this time watching YouTube, playing video games, and even drinking on the site, many sources claim. Read more special reports from our Supporters Program Despite the huge budget for the lab, staff say the site has been hit by health and safety issues. Rats are …

title: “Rosalind Franklin Lab How Britain S Covid Megalab Flagship Crashed Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-12” author: “Betty Ayers”

Announcing the project in November 2020, then-Health Minister Matt Hancock said the project “confirms the United Kingdom as a world leader in diagnostics”. But less than 18 months later, the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory – named in honor of the famous British scientist – is plagued by failure, costing almost double its 58 588 million budget, according to The Independent. Instead of being at the forefront of the battle against Covid, the project opened six months late, tackling a range of equipment, personnel and construction issues, with only 20 per cent of its advertising capacity achieved. Now, as the government closes its “lighthouse” test laboratories as part of its “live with Covid” plan, leaving the Leamington Spa as its last laboratory, there are questions about the site’s future – and whether it will be able to to meet the testing needs of the nation on its own if another deadly Covid wave occurs.

“Mass repulsions”

The project was announced as a flagship for the new UK Health Insurance Agency (UKHSA), which succeeded the Public Health of England as the body responsible for protecting the public from infectious diseases and overseeing Covid testing in the UK. The 220,000-square-foot area, which is hailed as the largest test unit of its kind in Europe, was to open the first of its treatment lines in January 2021, the culmination of the second wave of the Covid-19. By June of that year, nine of the 12 lines were to be operational. However, it was not until July 13 that the laboratory officially opened, with only one line running. It was acknowledged that four of the lines would never be built, despite officials placing and receiving orders for test equipment worth millions, sources involved in setting up the lab told the Independent. “The Ministry of Health said that this was the plan for a long time. “That was absolutely not the plan,” said a former senior scientist. The location of Rosalind Franklin Laboratory at Leamington Spa (Department of Health and Social Welfare) Confidentialists say construction delays also played a role, while efforts to avoid equipment certification to speed up the process stopped at 11 a.m., contributing to “huge delays”. The UKHSA said the allegations were untrue. Experts believe that these delays could have been avoided if the RFL had hired scientists and clinicians with relevant experience from the beginning of the project, instead of relying on private consultants whose knowledge of working in the NHS was “almost non-existent”. . According to emails seen by The Independent, 31 laboratory support technicians were informed last summer – days before they started work – that they would be paid to stay home indefinitely due to delays, costing the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds. Another 700 employees were at the retainer last summer, but had not yet started working. The staff “is all about short-term contracts,” said a senior scientist overseeing the UK’s Lighthouse Lab network. “This creates problems for the workshops, because if you have a short-term contract and the long-term job shows up, of course you will move on.”

“Spiral cost”

His total budget was set at 8 588 million, according to internal figures from June 2021. But by May of that year, 500 500 million had already been spent, with the cost “rising”, said the former senior scientist. As of November, the site was hundreds of millions of pounds above budget, according to another person familiar with the project’s finances. As of February, estimates put the cost of the project at 1 1.1 billion, according to a Treasury Department source, who said the cost was now out of control. The UKHSA said it did not recognize those numbers. Our Supporters Program sponsors special reports on topics that matter. Click here to fund more public interest journalism In fact, government officials do not have a clear picture of how much has been spent on the project, according to a Treasury Department secret and a consultant working to review the future of the lab. Prior to the launch of the site, when it became clear that the RFL would not be built in its original size, procurement teams were pressured to break supplier contracts and “delete orders” for equipment worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. they say. “We were told without precarious terms to never provide things like long-term equipment delivery schedules, because that could be seen as a promise to the supplier to keep the original agreement in court,” said the former senior scientist, who helped oversee the procurement. laboratory. The Independent said that efforts were made by the Ministry of Finance to “pull the plug” on the project due to the spiral cost, but he was convinced against it. The site is now “under scrutiny” by HMT officials. The Ministry of Finance declined to comment. Professor Colin Fink, medical director at the private diagnostic firm Microbiology, said: “It was all too late, really. “We could have done it for a tenth of the price. They did not want us to get involved at all.”

‘It keeps breaking’

By last October, the lab had developed the millionth Covid test. According to the government’s plans, there was hope that the RFL would work with 100,000 samples a day – revised from 300,000. In contrast, the lab typically processed just 11,500, according to the analysis. Although this has increased in the coming months, scientists’ estimates raise the average to 25,000 to 30,000 a day. The lab has never processed more than 65,000 tests in 24 hours, 22 percent of its original capacity. Sources say the tests were hampered by repeated mechanical malfunctions. A former lab worker questioned whether the machines, which are “very sophisticated and expensive”, were designed to operate 24 hours a day. “Some were out of action at least once a week,” they said. Another source said “machines [were] breaking constantly, at a rate that should not happen “. A third said mechanical problems occurred on a daily basis. The UKHSA said the equipment was regularly inspected and that several machines allowed tests to continue in the event that one broke. Health Secretary Sajid Javid during a visit to Rosalind Franklin Laboratory last year (Tim Hammond / Downing Street 10) If machines break down during a night shift, staff are expected to call U.S. support teams to try to repair the equipment. “This is done via WhatsApp Video and can take two to three hours, during which time everything is put on hold,” said a former senior laboratory official. Concerns have also been expressed that items used for equipment, such as pipette tips, are not compatible with the machines. This “means that they operate out of specification, so the manufacturers do not guarantee the validity of the results,” said a senior administrative source overseeing the entire lab. The former official said “tens of thousands” of tests had been diverted elsewhere to the government’s network of “lighthouses” of private laboratories, including the Milton Keynes site, as a result of repeated mechanical failures and lack of capacity. About 217,000 samples were removed from the lab from September last year to mid-March due to scheduled and unplanned conditions, the UKHSA said. This is “a safe and common place for businesses,” a spokesman added. However, despite staff awareness that equipment breaks regularly, leading to invalid test results, such failures are not always reported to the UKHSA, say laboratory experts. “There is a suspicion among some of the lab staff that this kind of incident… is somewhat routine,” said a senior administrative source, referring to cases of contamination of samples that had been “brushed under the rug”. The UKHSA said it did not acknowledge the allegations. In the vast majority of cases, incorrect results are detected by the quality control and evaluation teams of the laboratory, so the original sample is re-tested. However, some false negatives and positives have slipped under the radar and were only detected afterwards after the results were returned to the public, according to three separate sources, including one with knowledge of the laboratory test verification system. The UKHSA said it did not acknowledge the allegations. Last June, after updating software in the lab’s test systems, about 1,900 samples were infected during processing and deemed invalid. After resolving the issue, the affected audience members were informed of the error and told to retake their exams.

“I’m sitting around”

Newcomers to the lab, many of whom are high school or college graduates, have little experience in handling the types of machines used in the RFL and need to be taught how to use them. However, the lab does not have trainers to do this, according to a former lab worker. A senior official said junior staff were being treated “quite badly”, which “dramatically affected morale”, while a former staff member said site cleaners slept regularly all night in the RFL well-being area. The workers say that their time in the laboratory is characterized by intense pressure followed by shifts with very little to do. There were examples of some employees working 11-hour shifts. In other cases, the groups were left to “sit for 10 hours at a time” due to lack of samples. Staff have spent much of this time watching YouTube, playing video games, and even drinking on the site, many sources claim. Read more special reports from our Supporters Program Despite the huge budget for the lab, staff say the site has been hit by health and safety issues. Rats are …