Haverfordwest mum's concern after no test results twice

Dozens of people have taken to social media, saying they have been waiting extended periods for results.

Claire Gray said she had taken her son, Jack, who is severely autistic, to be tested twice, and, at the time of publishing, had not received results for either. 

“We booked a test after my son showed symptoms on October 13 and we’re still waiting for the results,” Mrs Gray said.

“We’ve phoned 119 five or six times for results, but they don’t know what’s happened, they just refer it up.”

Jack getting his pumpkins ready for Hallowe'en

She said they had also tried escalating the issue twice, but had not had a response.

Mrs Gray said she understood the service is under a great deal of pressure, but said there needed to be better communication.

Because they have not had results, the family has had to self-isolate, meaning Mrs Gray’s husband, who is a key worker, has been unable to go to work.

“We are just stuck,” Mrs Gray said.

“If you know you are going to get results you can plan, but we can’t plan.”

The family have also had the added difficulty of Jack, aged 10, being unable to communicate his feelings to his parents.

“It might be easier if he had the facilities to be able to tell us how he is feeling but he is low verbal,” Mrs Gray said.

“He showed two of the symptoms, he had a cough, but this could just be a cold. He can’t tell me - I don’t know if he can smell or taste.

“A test like this should be a lifeline for us.”

Jack and his mum

In the Coronavirus Pembrokeshire Facebook group, over 30 people have complained about a late or no results in the last week.

One parent said her children had received results, while she and her partner had not. Another woman said she had also been tested on October 13 and had not received results despite working for the NHS.

Asked about slow testing results nationally during a coronavirus briefing, on Friday, October 16, the First Minister said he could report what he was told by the people running the lighthouse labs - laboratories set up for Covid testing.

Mr Drakeford said he had heard a report from Dido Harding, the person in charge of the system.

He said: “She acknowledged there have been delays and she said that they are just practically driven. You have a system which is working flat out, if people fall ill, if a piece of equipment breaks down, if you have a delivery of reagent chemicals that is delayed, then that leads to delays in turnaround times.”

He said he was told they were working hard to improve turnaround time.

Asked about the delay in results, a UK Government Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said: “NHS Test and Trace is processing over 280,000 tests a day from more than 500 test centres and mobile units, with the vast majority of people reporting no issues with the process. 

“Results taken in person at drive-through, walkthrough and mobile testing units are usually delivered the day after the test was taken. 

"Anyone who has not received their result from an in-person or home test after five days is advised to call 119.”