Case studies

A community contact tracing service was launched in Norfolk at the start of September. It is run in partnership between the county council and districts.

“Test and Trace had given us a good start but we really believe in the value of contact tracing and wanted to maximise the number of local people it reached. We felt we could make a difference."

Sheffield’s contact tracing service went live in the middle of October. It is staffed by a team of 12 dedicated contact tracers who work seven days a week – although the hours are shorter at the weekends.

Birmingham has its own Test and Trace team, which has a variety of roles from data analysis and complex contact tracing to communications and community engagement. 

Blackpool’s contact tracing service went live at the start of September after only a few weeks of planning and preparation by the public health team.

Oxfordshire worked with Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace to launch its local contact tracing service in mid October. A team of 14 call handlers drawn from Cherwell District Council and the county council provide contact tracing on behalf of all the districts.

Solihull's public health team launched a backward tracing service in early September. It is currently staffed by six public health staff who contact everybody who tests positive in the borough.

Derbyshire County Council looked at their maternity pathway and ways to identify improvements and reduce smoking in pregnancy (SiP) rates. Smoking is the main modifiable risk factor associated with a range of poor pregnancy outcomes and can impact on the health of the child throughout their lifetime.

From the start of October, Liverpool council went live with a more enhanced version of contact tracing. The national team started passing down cases after 24 hours and Liverpool’s contact tracers were given access to the CTAS recording system.

In many two tier areas, Preston County Council has taken the lead on setting up local contact tracing teams. Often they host the contact tracers, leaving the districts to do the home visits. This case study is part of a series on local contact tracing.