Thread by @GeorgeMonbiot

I hope you’re sitting down, because this week’s column should make you very, very angry.
It shows how professional clinicians employed by the NHS in crucial test and trace jobs have been secretly replaced by teenaged call centre workers employed by Serco
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Last week's column covered a major test and trace scandal. But this, in my view, is much worse. Just as we urgently need to improve the failing system and make it accountable, it is deskilled and further privatised.

How the hell are we going to escape the pandemic?

Aside from the fact that this makes the £12bn programme even less likely to succeed, the effect on the young people forced to take on the jobs of health professionals is devastating. No qualifications, no proper training, thrust into roles for which they're entirely unprepared.

All this happened last week, and now seems to be policy across the board, implemented by both Serco and Sitel. So don't be at all surprised to see a further collapse in the number of contacts successfully traced, and an even greater failure to contain Covid-19.

A big thanks to the whistleblower who alerted me to this. Since the article went to press, a second whistleblower has contacted me, telling an identical story. They were given no choice about taking on this role. It's having a serious impact on their mental health.

Let me just hammer this message home. 18 year-old, untrained call centre workers are now making serious clinical decisions, such as whether to escalate complex cases.

The state of this government.

What to do?
As before: help crowdfund the excellent legal actions by @GoodLawProject, challenging dodgy Covid contracts.
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