PHA boss denies test and trace system as ‘useful as chocolate fireguard’

By David Young, PA

The boss of the Public Health Agency (PHA) has refuted an Assembly member’s claim that Northern Ireland’s Covid-19 test and trace system is “as useful as a chocolate fireguard”.

The assertion from Sinn Fein’s Pat Sheehan provoked an angry response from fellow members of the Assembly’s health committee with calls for the West Belfast representative to apologise.

The committee was hearing evidence from senior PHA officials on testing and contact tracing in the region.

It was a session that also heard that Northern Ireland could be facing a testing capacity “gap” in the winter due to soaring demand.

Mr Sheehan branded the tracing system an abysmal failure after PHA interim chief executive Olive MacLeod revealed its staffing capacity modelling anticipated 300 positive cases a day at the start of October.

Ms MacLeod said the agency had to rapidly “flex up” its capacity after case numbers soared by 300% to 900 daily on October 2. She said recruitment to increase the 151-strong workforce was ongoing.

Mr Sheehan, who described the modelling as a “disastrous underestimate”, said there were “dozens and dozens” of cases where contact tracing had not been done properly.

“All of you in the room there are very well paid, you were tasked to put in place a rigorous and robust contact tracing system – you have failed abysmally,” he told the PHA officials, who were giving evidence remotely from their headquarters in central Belfast.

“The contact tracing system that is there at the minute is as useful as a chocolate fireguard.

“Who among you in that room is going to raise your hand and say I am responsible for this failure?”

Ms MacLeod defended her organisation and rejected Mr Sheehan’s contention.

“I’m the chief executive of this organisation so I am responsible and I can’t accept that you compare the service that we have set up to a chocolate fireguard,” she said.

“I think it’s a disservice to the staff who have volunteered and who have come to work for us.”

Mr Sheehan said he was referring to the leadership of the PHA, not the staff.

Later in the evidence session, Dr Gerry Waldron, head of health protection at the PHA, also challenged the suggestion the agency had failed.

“I don’t use the word failure,” he said.

“I use the word success in terms of seeing how extremely dedicated individuals working in the Public Health Agency have coped with this challenge and are managing new and increasing challenges every single day of the week.”

Dr Waldron said a second wave of the virus had not been inevitable, suggesting public “complacency” had led to the surge in cases.

“What we did not anticipate was that at this stage of the year in October that we would have the unprecedented numbers of positive cases that we have,” he said.

“But despite all of that we have been working extremely hard to deal with what’s coming in.”

After facing criticism from rival MLAs, Mr Sheehan stood by his remarks and refused to apologise.

“The operation they have put in place is as useless as a chocolate fireguard – it’s as simple as that and under no circumstances would I apologise for saying that,” he said, after PHA officials had ended their evidence session.

DUP vice chair of the committee Pam Cameron said she was “horrified” by his questioning and branded it “absolutely disgusting” to be raising what the officials were being paid.

She called on him to say sorry but, when he declined to do so, she withdrew that call, adding: “There’s no point in even asking for an apology because we know you’re good at not apologising, well done.”

Ulster Unionist member Alan Chambers highlighted the attendance of senior Sinn Fein members at the funeral of IRA veteran Bobby Storey at a time when there were tight restrictions on numbers attending such events.

“I think Pat doesn’t need to look any further than the leadership of his own party to find evidence of chocolate fireguards in relation to trying to stop the spread of this virus within the community,” he said.

Mr Chambers described the comments as “very unfair, very uncalled for and very unhelpful”.

Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw characterised Mr Sheehan’s approach as a “step too far”.

SDLP member Colin McGrath said he believed the remarks were “borne out of frustration” with how PHA officials were answering some questions. Mr McGrath said he shared that frustration.

The committee also heard of the pressures on testing capacity as the second wave of coronavirus hits Northern Ireland.

Members were told the PHA would be considering “pooling samples” as a way to cope with demand during the winter.

Professor Hugo Van Woerden, PHA director of public health, highlighted there was a global shortage of testing machines.

He said the anticipated introduction of new testing techniques, such as a saliva-based method, may help to alleviate some of the strain on the system.

However, Professor Van Woerden did warn that a “gap” could emerge in the coming months.

“I do think that going forward into the winter there may well be, and it’s important to acknowledge at this stage, some degree of gap between the testing capacity we would love to have and what we will realistically have,” he said.

“And I think that that will require some prioritisation of testing.”