Thanks, and Farewell to Wirral’s Community Testing Team

As the National community testing programme is drawn to a conclusion, we’re adapting to the new ways in which we will need to operate as we learn to live safely with COVID-19. 

I want to thank every member of the Community Testing Team for their professionalism, hard work, and dedication that have helped to keep Wirral well during this unprecedented time.  

Every member of staff, past and present, has contributed to the fantastic level of service we have been able to deliver for local people, in the last 18 months.  

The Community Testing Team has demonstrated what can be achieved in partnership and through effective teamwork, and I am immensely proud of all that the team and the service has achieved.

Sue Freeman worked as a Testing Site Lead in Birkenhead and on Mobile Testing Units for 16 months. Sue said: 

Like everyone in the team, my background wasn’t in COVID-19 testing. I was a computer-skills tutor, but the pandemic meant I needed another job as I could no longer visit people in their homes to deliver one-to-one teaching.  

“So, after spending 6 months helping to set up and run PCR testing facilities with a private contractor, I joined Wirral Council in early December 2020.  

“The pandemic meant that people with vastly different backgrounds were working in the same team, with people from banking and industry working alongside PHD and sixth-form students. However, our incredibly diverse team all pulled together to deliver a potentially life-saving service, which, seems to have been really appreciated by local people. 

“We’ve had many lovely comments, a few nice letters and even boxes of chocolates as a little thank you.

When I started on 8th December 2020, the Army had just done a fantastic job setting up the Greasby facility, before handing it over to the Council to run.  

“Demand was huge back then, with up to 800 tests being carried out every day in the run up to Christmas 2020. But despite the long waits – which could be up to two and a half hours – people understood the situation and remained cheerful and grateful for the service. 

“I remember one lady who, not realising the queue was for Covid testing, took her place in the queue and on reaching the front an hour and a half later, handed over a bag of library books which she had only wanted to return. Thankfully, she saw the funny side and was happy to take a test, so it wasn’t a complete waste of her time. 

“When testing ended in Greasby I helped to establish the unit at the Cherry Tree Centre in Liscard, and I’m glad to say that once again, I and the whole team genuinely felt that they we were making a difference, with hundreds of people passing through the centre every day at peak times. 

“Testing finished at the Cherry Tree on the last day of March 2022, which meant I had spent 478 days working on the testing team, which is far longer any of us expected back in 2020.” 

“I am really proud of what we achieved and am now looking forward to a new challenge in the Council’s housing team.

It has been great working with Wirral Council supporting the delivery of the community testing programme. We have been made to feel very welcome and we are very glad we could provide assistance in these difficult times.