Oh oh.

[cromwell]

Aaaaand now they have dropped the requirement for tracking.
This has all the signs of a project in trouble.
Unrealistic promises, slipping deadlines and reduced functionality from that originally promised - classic.

The Daily Mail is continuing with the Boris bashing, saying that it is a government failure. In the sense that the buck stops here, yes it is.
In reality it is the fault of the NHSX person who promised the moon on a stick.
If there is fault with the government it is that they were too ready to believe a snake oil salesman.

[Workingman]

If there is fault with the government it is that they were too ready to believe a snake oil salesman.

That's how scammers and snake oil salesmen work - they tell the gullible (who have already made their minds up) what they want to hear and then make their sales based on their false promises to meet the need.

I am pretty sure that government has some agencies such as MI5, MI6 and GCHQ where they might have found one or two people to clue them up to the difficulties. The trouble is that the wonks in government and the civil service would have seen it as a medical / coronavirus thing and not an identifying and monitoring one so it would never have entered the mush between their ears to go ask.

We have an urgent need for street wise people up top. A good dose of scepticism makes for a first line of defence otherwise it's 'caveat emptor' and you pays your money.

[Suff]

We have an urgent need for street wise people up top. A good dose of scepticism makes for a first line of defence otherwise it's 'caveat emptor' and you pays your money.

Well that raised a wry smile. Most street wise people know that the fist thing any sensible person does is avoid the press.

As interacting with the press and allowing your life to be invaded by them, expect clueless wonks to be the norm...