At the end of last year Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, wrote a letter of gratitude to Testing Programme colleagues across the UK. It is as follows:
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to thank you personally for all your hard work to support the National Testing Programme.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the United Kingdom has built from the ground up what is now one of Europe’s largest testing infrastructures.
The importance of testing cannot be overstated. Not only does your work directly save lives, but it also helps to reassure people and keep the country going through what has been, and continues to be, an incredibly challenging time for us all.
I know that you have faced a unique set of challenges and stresses on the frontline of our testing programme. I want to make it clear that your safety and wellbeing are our highest priority. Nothing matters more than that.
It is vital we deliver this critical programme as a big team. Colleagues working at test sites, working across our laboratories, in policy and logistics, we need to look after each other and work hard to make sure that you can carry out your essential work safely and comfortably. We are working closely with testing site providers to deliver the highest standard of safety and security across the system.
I know this will get tough and there will be many long hours this winter. Our programme will help to make sure that if you are working at a testing site, you have everything you need ahead of the coming colder weather and we will be making sure that the infrastructure of all our sites is winterproof. Wherever you work across our network, you will also be eligible for the flu jab due to the crucial role you carry out – keeping you and your colleagues healthy is and will always remain our priority.
I would like to thank you once again for your considerable efforts to the programme, and to reaffirm my respect.
Yours ever,
Matt Hancock