Department of Health & Social Care

2. Mrs K complains about being made to self-isolate for ten days following a positive COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken on 4 June 2021. Mrs K, who is fully vaccinated and works for the NHS, says she had been taking biweekly lateral flow tests since December 2020, for work purposes. These had all been negative. She says when she took the test on 4 June, she was asymptomatic, other than a silent reflux cough, which she had for over 18 months. A repeat PCR test taken on 7 June 2021, at a different testing centre, was negative. Daily repeat lateral flow tests, between 4 and 14 June, were also all negative. Believing her positive PCR test result to be either a false positive, or due to cross-contamination in the laboratory, Mrs K complained to NHS Track & Trace and requested they carry out an investigation into how this occurred. They did not do this. She says she does not feel she was COVID-19 positive.

3. Mrs K and her husband, who also works for the NHS, were made to self-isolate for ten days. She says she is aggrieved that she is now an NHS (COVID-19) statistic, and her civil liberties have been affected. She says the Track & Trace system did not take sufficient notice of the overwhelming number of negative tests she had produced. She says she and her husband lost their freedom, which affected their earnings. She says it also affected her and her husband’s mental health.

4. As an outcome to her complaint, she would like the testing resources, used for her PCR test sample, to be investigated from start to finish. She says if the investigation is found to be inadequate then the DHSC should be accountable for this and should admit to it. She says it should also reimburse her for her loss of freedom and earnings.

5. Mrs K, who works for the NHS, was accustomed to taking biweekly COVID-19 tests to ensure she was safe to work. These were usually lateral flow tests and had always been negative.

6. Mrs K was asked to take a PCR test, which she did on 4 June 2021. This returned a positive result. The Track & Trace system informed her that as a result of this, she must self-isolate for ten days.

7. Mrs K disputes the result of this test, believing it must be a false negative or have been contaminated in the laboratory. She complained about it to the DHSC, requesting that they carry out an investigation into how this could have happened.

Having been told to self-isolate

10. Before we decide if we should investigate a complaint, we look at whether there are signs the organisation has got something wrong. We do this by comparing what should have happened with what did happen. We have done this, we have not found any indications that something has gone wrong. This is because the formal government guidance in place on 4 June 2021 was that someone with a positive COVID-19 test result must isolate for ten days. There are no exceptions listed.

11. Mrs K says she was aggrieved that she was made to isolate for ten full days, losing income and confidence, which was distressing for her. She says she was completely asymptomatic throughout and had so many negative test results. She said she does not feel she had COVID-19 at all.

12. The government guidance says it is the law to self-isolate if you receive a positive COVID-19 test result, regardless of whether you have been fully vaccinated, as Mrs K says she was. It says self-isolating is important because you could pass the infection on to others, even if you do not have symptoms. In line with the guidance on 4 June 2021, if you tested positive for COVID-19, it was correct that the Track & Trace Service told Mrs K to self-isolate for ten days.

13. As the DHSC said in its email on 24 June 2021, there are reasons why negative test results from days before or after a positive result can occur, and there is a very small chance that a false positive can occur. A positive PCR result was nevertheless a legal requirement at that time, meaning that regardless of a possible false positive result, the guidance was that if you have a positive PCR test you must self-isolate. We appreciate Mrs K’s concerns that she did not feel the PCR test results were accurate. We would like to assure Mrs K that we have considered her concerns carefully. We are of the view that when her second PCR test came back negative, this could equally have potentially been a false result. It might also have been that her viral load had reduced by then, and the result was accurate. While we cannot explain what led to a positive result on this occasion, it does not change the fact that the guidance in place was to self-isolate for ten days.

14. We do not wish to take away the upset this has caused Mrs K. We are satisfied that the Track & Trace Service followed the appropriate guidance in place at the time of the positive test, and we hope we have been able to reassure Mrs K of this. Therefore there is no indication of failings, on the part of the DHSC, in relation to this aspect of the complaint. We are aware Mrs K seeks compensation for her loss of earnings. However, as we can see, DHSC has followed the relevant guidance. We cannot therefore link her injustice to the claimed failing and so cannot achieve her outcome of awarding her loss of earnings

Outcomes sought

15. We also consider whether we can achieve the outcomes sought by a complainant. In this case, Mrs K has said she would like the testing resources used for her PCR test sample to be investigated from start to finish. She says all samples should be fully trackable and traceable, and that finding out how this had gone wrong might identify if there was a problem at that particular test centre.

16. As we know from the guidance discussed above, there was no provision for this type of investigation, following a contested result. In addition, given the time that has passed since her test, our service model guidance tells us it would not be practical or feasible to carry out such an investigation now, due to a lack of available evidence.

17. Our Principles of Remedy says any recommendations we make must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Recommendations must therefore be achievable. In this case, the physical investigation into what happened with an individual COVID-19 test sample is not achievable. For this reason, we would not take the complaint through to investigation as we can see from the outset that we would not be able to achieve the outcomes Mrs K is seeking.

18. We are sorry to hear about the event which led to Mrs K having to self-isolate. We do understand how frustrating and upsetting this would have been for her, especially as she was certain she was not COVID-19 positive. For the reasons outlined above, we are taking no further action on this complaint.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs K’s complaint about the Test & Trace Service, as part of the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC). We understand why Mrs K feels aggrieved by the issues she has raised, in connection with her COVID-19 test. We also appreciate the financial and emotional implications in relation to this. After careful consideration, we have not found any indication that anything went wrong with the service she was provided. We are also not able to achieve the outcome she was seeking from us.