NHS contact tracing app could be delayed until winter

The UK government cast fresh doubt over the future of its flagship contact tracing app on Wednesday after a health minister conceded it may not be launched until the winter and senior executives prepared to step back from the project.

Lord Bethell said the launch of the NHS’s coronavirus app, which was initially presented as the cornerstone of the tracing strategy and is still being trialled on the Isle of Wight, “isn’t a priority”.

Separately, government officials confirmed that the two people who have been leading the app’s development will be stepping back from it. Matthew Gould, chief executive of the health service innovation arm NHSX, and Geraint Lewis, who heads the app team at NHSX, are to return to their day-to-day jobs.

Meanwhile a new manager, Simon Thompson — a former Apple executive who is currently chief product manager at Ocado — will take responsibility for the app. Mr Thompson has been brought in by Dido Harding, who runs the government’s test and trace programme. However, the timing of the moves, which were first reported by the BBC, are not clear.

“Until national launch, the app will continue to be led by the existing team from NHSX,” a government official said. “Simon will bring extensive expertise in product development and technology as well as expertise leading large teams through his previous roles at Ocado, HSBC, Apple and Royal Mail.”

Health secretary Matt Hancock unveiled plans for the app at the start of May, insisting it would allow the UK “to take a more targeted approach to lockdown” and suggesting it would form the centrepiece of the tracing effort.

The app was due to be ready for the rollout of the wider test, track and trace programme in late May, before issues with its development forced NHS officials and ministers to announce it would instead launch in mid-June.

Speaking to the Commons science and technology select committee on Wednesday, Lord Bethell said: “We are seeking to get something going for the winter, but it isn’t a priority for us at the moment”. He added that the government did still intend to roll it out.

Explaining the delay, one government official admitted that the app “still isn’t perfect” and said delaying the launch might allow developers to make improvements. The biggest obstacle is the use of Bluetooth accurately to estimate the distance between app users, since signal strength can vary considerably depending on a range of factors.

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The official also suggested that releasing the app during July or August might not be the best time if people are on holiday and “disengaged” from public health campaigns. Instead, the official said take-up of the app might be better in the autumn and that timing the launch to a second wave of infections could be a potent incentive in encouraging members of the public to download it.

Mr Hancock has championed the app as a vital tool in helping to contain the virus as lockdown restrictions are eased, but enthusiasm has waned in recent weeks. Lady Harding has described the technology as “the cherry on the cake, not the cake itself”.

Developers had hoped to launch a second, updated version of the app on the Isle of Wight last week, but ministers have repeatedly put the relaunch on hold. The newer version corrects previous glitches and has been changed to alert users of a potential infection risk based on one of their recent contacts testing positive for Covid, rather than just reporting symptoms of the virus.

Lord Bethell said the Isle of Wight trial of the app had shown people preferred to engage with human contact tracing, rather than technology.

“There is a danger of it being too technological and relying too much on text and emails, and alienating or freaking out people — because you’re peddling quite alarming news through quite casual communication,” he said.