School worker's 11-day wait for coronavirus test results

Tracey Pickford, 49, was able to secure a slot at a mobile testing site in Staffordshire on November 3 within hours of developing Covid-19 symptoms.

But her result has still not come through – and the 119 Government hotline can find no trace of Newton House, the site in Leek where she was tested.

Ms Pickford, who lives in Leek, said: "I’ve still not had any response and I’m that annoyed, I’ve given up. I’ve phoned multiple times and they’re still claiming the Newton House site doesn’t exist. I’m just flabbergasted.

"Everybody is doing everything they can to follow the rules and the Government can’t even get this right. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

"If they don’t know about this test centre, who were they and where has all my information for the test gone? Who has my details?

"It has made me feel as if I dreamt this up, it’s a nightmare. This is a joke.

"I haven’t been in work and I work in a school, so this really isn’t good when pupils are involved.

"When I last called them they said I must have the wrong postcode. Everybody I speak to says ‘that is a joke’. I know it is."

The Government does not comment on individual cases. The Newton House mobile testing centre has been operational this month on November 3, 4, 11, 12 and 13.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "NHS Test and Trace is the largest diagnostic network in British history. More than 600 test sites are already in operation across the UK, and up to 40 new test sites are opening every week.

"The system is processing tests at an unprecedented scale, with the daily testing capacity now surpassing 500,000, and more than two million people who may otherwise have unknowingly spread coronavirus have been contacted and told to isolate by NHS Test and Trace.

"Anyone with coronavirus symptoms can get a free test and must get tested as soon as they develop symptoms."

By Joe Burn