Thread by @adavies4

THREAD

The mystery of the ‘collapsed deal’ between the @WelshGovernment and a Covid-19 testing company.

I’ve been trying to find out a little more...

On Sat @BBCWalesNews reported that a deal had collapsed which would have seen the Welsh Government provided with an extra 5000 #COVIDー19 tests per day by an unnamed company...

Early on I was told it involved the Swiss pharmaceutical & diagnositcs company Roche…[a claim backed up by other well-placed sources]

The Welsh government has never named the company….
and has subsequently tried to play down any impact this may have – talking of its new #COVIDー19 testing plan which aims to hit the 5000 tests a day mark by mid-April.

But behind the scenes – in both government and Public Health Wales - there has clearly been deep frustration. Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford @fmwales today said in a press conference:

‘We believed we had an agreement that should have been honoured’

What’s interesting/confusing is what Roche @Roche have to say about the matter.
Tonight they sent me the following statement:

Now @Plaid_Cymru leader @Adamprice has tabled several Qs, incl. asking Welsh Gov whether the agreement it had with the company [if indeed it was Roche] ‘collapsed because of preferential terms offered by Public Health England or any other body acting on behalf of the UK govmnt?’

I sent the above wording in Adam Price’s Q to both @PHE_uk and Dept of Heatlh in England inviting a comment. PHE gave following brief statement:

‘The UK government has a contract with Roche to increase testing capacity across the UK’.

I’ve not heard back yet from @DHSCgovuk

It is clearly a hugely sensitive area – and an immense amount of work is going on to increase testing capacity across the UK.

@vaughangething told me y’day all 4 Health Ministers are striving to ensure ‘equity’ across the UK in terms of access to tests and medicines.

But after 48 hrs of asking questions – and on this matter of significant public interest – the full detail of what has happened has not yet been made public.

For reference: this is a link to the @WelshGovernment’s statement from Saturday which includes a comment on this story - as well as details about its plans for increased #COVIDー19 testing:

gov.wales/new-coronaviru…

Did the Welsh Government have the 'rug pulled out from under their feet'?' asks @Adamprice @Plaid_Cymru in an interview with #c4news this evening:

UPDATE: asked @vaughangething a few more Qs in today’s press conference. Confirms that - had the deal gone through - they expected to provide 6000 #COVIDー19 tests per day in Wales from tomorrow. Instead capacity will be approx 1100 tests per day this week...

@WelshGovernment says it now aims to reach 5000 tests per day in 2-3 weeks time, with an additional 4000 by the end of May.

The Health Minister declines to name the company involved but says there was a ‘written undertaking/agreement’ on tests provision...

Health Minister Vaughan Gething: ‘we had a clear agreement for that company’s team to come in to Wales to set up the infrastructure required to provide those additional [5000] tests’

Given the public health emphasis being placed on the importance of testing - and how many thousands more tests this agreement [the Welsh Gov claims was in place] would have provided in Wales - I asked @vaughangething if he could shed any light whatsoever on what went wrong....

He claims the company made a decision that they couldn’t fulfil the agreement reached with @WelshGovernment: ‘If I go further into that I’m getting into an argument... & not spending my time on doing what I should do - preparing our health & care system for the here & now’

You can watch my exchange with the Welsh Health Minister @vaughangething here [scroll to 14 mins in]

https://twitter.com/welshgovernment/status/1244950577286533121?s=21

https://twitter.com/welshgovernment/status/1244950577286533121

I asked Roche earlier today if they had anything to add to their statement from yesterday in which they denied ever having had a separate agreement with the Welsh government. Their latest comment 👇

More questions to the Welsh Government about the ‘written agreement’ to provide 5000 extra #COVIDー19 tests per day it claims a testing company failed to deliver.

With @c4marcus & Kevin Langdon 🎥 our latest report from Cardiff 👇

channel4.com/news/welsh-gov…

NEW: ROCHE confirmed by Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford in @SeneddChamber as company which @WelshGovernment claims failed to ‘honour agreement’ to provide 5000 Covid-19 tests a day in Wales.

Roche has consistently denied it had a direct agreement with Wales

Questioned by @Adamprice if the company in question was Roche, @fmwales replies [acc to @SeneddChamber transcript]:

‘We did have a deal; it was a deal that we had with Roche. We believe that it was a deal that ought to have been honoured’

Mark Drakeford @fmwales goes on to say: ‘We now have access to a supply of tests from a consortium of suppliers that will give us a considerable uplift in testing here in Wales’ @WelshGovernment

Transcript: record.assembly.wales/Plenary/6267

Re-posting the statement I received yesterday from @Roche

It may be some time before we learn what really went on here. 2 starkly contrasting accounts & a desire on both sides now to move on.

But it appears the landscape for procurement of private sector #COVIDー19 test kit & testing materials for the devolved nations has changed...

I’m told the agreement reached recently between the 4 UK Health Ministers now sees Public Health England/UK Gov leading on procuring some [but not all] of the core UK test kits/materials - in order to avoid problems of UK nations competing for same resources from private sector

One Welsh Gov source tells me: ‘this was in the interests of getting the best deal for people throughout the UK...detailed arrangements are now being worked up to ensure everyone gets a fair deal’...

In other words - a mechanism to distribute within the 4 nations which is judged ‘equitable’ & based on current #COVIDー19 needs (rather than driven simply, for instance, by a Barnett Formula-style system)