Immensa lab's Covid testing errors could have led to more than 20 deaths, UKHSA report says

MORE than 20 people could have died as a result of incorrect Covid test results, a new report has said.

The findings of a serious incident investigation, carried out by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) into Immensa’s Wolverhampton laboratory, have been published this week.

The Newbury Showground Covid testing centre was one of a number of sites that was affected by false negative results being issued by the lab last October.

The Newbury Weekly News reported at the time that a number of people had raised concerns that they had been given incorrect results. Testing at the lab was suspended by the UKHSA shortly afterwards, on October 12.

The new report has blamed staff at the lab for the incorrect setting of the threshold levels for reporting positive and negative results of PCR tests.

The UKHSA said it estimates that the error could have led to around 39,000 results being reported as negative when they should have been positive.

Analysis by UKHSA researchers has also shown the estimated impact on the most affected areas – of which West Berkshire is one.

The report said that the errors led to an estimated 24,100 additional cases across the most affected areas between September 2, 2021 and October 31, 2021, leading to an additional 55,000 infections – because people were not told to isolate when they should have been.

It added that it found evidence of more hospital admissions – an estimate of around 680 – and “just over 20 additional deaths in these most affected areas”.

The report concluded that “the incident is likely to have had a measurable impact on cases and infections in the affected areas in the South West of England”.

In October 2021 we reported how NHS Test and Trace (NHSTT) said around 400,000 samples had been processed through the lab, with an estimated 43,000 people potentially given an incorrect negative PCR test result between September 8 and October 12.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed that Newbury Showground was one of a number of sites nationally that was affected by the false negatives and residents who received negative PCR results from tests undertaken at the showground, between October 3 and October 12, 2021, were urged to retake the test.

Richard Gleave, UKHSA director and lead investigator, said: “Through this investigation we have looked carefully at the arrangements in place for overseeing contracts of private labs providing surge testing during this time.

“We have concluded that staff errors within Immensa’s Wolverhampton laboratory were the immediate cause of the incorrect reporting of COVID-19 PCR test results in September and October 2021.

“It is our view that there was no single action that NHS Test and Trace could have taken differently to prevent this error arising in the private laboratory.

“However, our report sets out clear recommendations to both reduce the risk of incidents like this happening again and ensure that concerns are addressed and investigated rapidly.”

Jenny Harries, UKHSA chief executive, added: “UKHSA is committed to being a transparent, learning organisation and this means investigating where things have gone wrong and working out how things can be improved.

“I fully accept the findings and recommendations made in this report, many of which were implemented as soon as UKHSA discovered the incident. These ongoing improvements will enhance our ability to spot problems sooner where they do arise.

“We are particularly keen to further improve how we work with local partners and directors of public health as rapid incidents like this unfold.”