Dido Harding's deputy in Test & Trace 'lost it' during months of chaos and was forced to seek help from psychiatrist colleague
Dido Harding's second in command at Test & Trace 'lost it' during months of chaos and was even forced to seek help from a psychiatrist whom she cried to.
Sarah-Jane Marsh acted as director of testing at Test & Trace until six weeks ago and said that the chaos surrounding the roll-out of the scheme made her feel she 'couldn't make decisions'.
She was forced to seek help from an NHS psychiatrist after she crashed her car but carried on driving without stopping.
Test & Trace cost £22billion of taxpayers' money but has been beleaguered with problems since its inception in May.
Sarah-Jane Marsh acted as director of testing at Test & Trace until six weeks ago and said that the chaos surrounding the roll-out of the scheme made her feel she 'couldn't make decisions'
The testing system collapsed in September and left people having to journey hundreds of miles for tests.
Sage, the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, then said that the system only had a 'marginal impact' on tackling coronavirus.
Ms Marsh opened up about the drama behind the scenes on the Next Generation GP health podcast.
According to the Telegraph, she said: 'I found a place where I lost it, which has never happened to me before.
'I've got several examples in my mind of where I literally thought I couldn't go on. I've got nothing left.'
Test & Trace cost £22billion of taxpayers' money but has been beleaguered with problems since its inception in May. Pictured: Dido Harding
She added that she just wanted to 'make it stop' but had to continue. Ms Marsh's director of laboratories used to be a psychiatrist.
She said: 'So we had little things offline and sometimes we just looked at each other and had a little cry.'
Ms Marsh said she left Test & Trace to be able to spend more time with her two young children.
She has now returned to her job as chief executive of Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital.