Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Science & Tech
  2. Coronavirus
14 May 2020updated 06 Oct 2020 9:45am

Former health secretary Hunt admits past failings on testing capacity

By Samuel Horti

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has admitted he should have done more to build up the UK’s pandemic testing capacity while he was in the cabinet.

Hunt became health secretary under David Cameron and went on to serve in Theresa May’s cabinet. He told the BBC the government had been “over-focused on pandemic flu, and not on pandemic Sars-like viruses” in the past.

He suggested that if the government had concentrated more on testing capacity, the UK could have avoided some coronavirus deaths.

“I think the practical thing that we can all see needed to have happened was to make sure that everyone discharged from hospitals into care homes was tested for Covid before they were sent to a care home. But because we didn’t have that testing capacity at the time, it wasn’t possible to do that,” he said.

“In retrospect, and I have responsibility for this as someone who was health secretary for six years, because we were over-focused on pandemic flu, and not on pandemic Sars-like viruses, we haven’t been thinking for some time about the importance of testing.

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday - from the New Statesman. The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team.
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

“And had we done that, and that’s why I think transparency over scientific advice is so important, then maybe some of these things could have been avoided.”

Content from our partners
What is the point of inheritance tax?
How to win the next election? It's the data, stupid
Businesses must unlock the regional growth agenda