Health firm which illegally altered Tests on Motorists & is advised by Tory MP, wins £133m C19 Test Contract Unopposed

[Borg Refinery]

Randox hits back over £133m coronavirus contract no competition suggestion



https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/randox-hits-back-over-133m-coronavirus-contract-no-competition-suggestion-39196377.html">https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.belfas ... 96377.html">https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/randox-hits-back-over-133m-coronavirus-contract-no-competition-suggestion-39196377.html



Well erm, how reassuring.  :fcplm:

[Borg Refinery]

The bureaucracy and stupidity is also staggering.

Health Minister Robin Swann has said Northern Ireland cannot purchase Covid-19 tests from a prominent Co Antrim healthcare diagnostic firm because it is tied into a UK-wide contract.

....

Speaking after the briefing, Mr Sheehan said: "This is very concerning, Randox tests are going to England, Scotland and Wales and then we're going to get the crumbs off the table.



"You can guarantee that we aren't going to be a priority for them."



Pat Cullen, director of the Royal College of Nursing in Northern Ireland, said nurses here are "quite rightly asking what on earth is going on".



She continued: "It is quite unbelievable that tests that are being produced on our doorstep cannot be accessed for staff here who are beginning to feel, once again, like the poor relation to our counterparts in Scotland, England and Wales.



"For nursing staff in particular, we had to stand on picket lines just a few short weeks ago to demand to be paid equally and fairly, and here we are again wondering why we are being treated differently.



"It is, in our view, completely unacceptable that healthcare staff and patients in Northern Ireland will have to wait at the back of the queue to see if any of these supplies that were produced in Northern Ireland can be brought back. During a time of crisis - which is what this is - it is an enormous waste of time and resources."



Northern Ireland has a target to carry out 1,100 tests a day, however, only 449 people were tested for the virus over the 24-hour period between Wednesday and Thursday.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus/uk-wide-contract-stops-northern-ireland-from-buying-locally-produced-randox-test-kits-says-robin-swann-39098864.html">https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.belfas ... 98864.html">https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus/uk-wide-contract-stops-northern-ireland-from-buying-locally-produced-randox-test-kits-says-robin-swann-39098864.html



Yeeks, another story about Westminster's dictatorial and callous attitude towards the paysans in the far reaches of the fiefdom.



This crisis is really shining a bright light on how they treat our cousins around these islands.

[Borg Refinery]

A healthcare firm which employs the prominent Conservative politician Owen Paterson as a paid consultant has been awarded a £133m contract without any other firms being given the opportunity to bid for the work.



The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has given Randox the contract to produce testing kits to help respond to the coronavirus pandemic. It was awarded "without prior publication of a call for competition", according to details of the contract seen by the Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/11/healthcare-firm-advised-by-owen-paterson-won-133m-coronavirus-testing-contract-unopposed">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... -unopposed">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/11/healthcare-firm-advised-by-owen-paterson-won-133m-coronavirus-testing-contract-unopposed



But hold on a mo...

At least 40 motorists convicted of drug-driving offences have been cleared after evidence of manipulation was found in the forensic testing process.



The motorists were banned from driving and in some cases fined, but their convictions have since been overturned.



About 10,500 test results are being reviewed after alleged manipulation of data at Randox Testing Services.



The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) described it as a "most serious breach" of forensic science standards.



A further 50 drug-driving cases have been dropped as a result of the alleged data manipulation at the firm's Manchester laboratory.

Police have suspended all contracts with a drug-testing company amid allegations of data manipulation.



Randox Testing Services (RTS) in Manchester was investigated after two scientists were arrested on suspicion of tampering with data.



Police minister Nick Hurd understands the RTS is no longer working for the National Police Chiefs' Council.



He said the firm was "co-operating" in retesting samples after the probe led to a review of more than 10,000 cases.



'Indentify priority cases'



The council said forensic tests across 42 police forces, including rapes and murders, were being considered possibly unreliable and needed re-examining.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-manchester-46466710">https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co ... r-46466710">https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-manchester-46466710



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-42144231">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-m ... r-42144231">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-42144231



Does it get more dodgy than that?