RCGP urges ‘test right people at the right time’

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has said that the government’s testing strategy for coronavirus needs to shift away from ‘arbitrary numbers and targets’.

In a letter to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, the RCGP says that if the UK is to ease lockdown and avoid a second wave of infection then the focus must shift to wider access for health professionals and the public.

Martin Marshall, chair of the college, says that while testing capacity has now increased significantly, GPs are concerned that current arrangements - with tests being transported long distances to pathology labs, lengthy waiting times for results, and questions around accuracy of results - are ‘undermining the confidence’ of the medical profession and patients ‘in the process and the results themselves’.

The RCGP is calling on Hancock to produce a joined-up strategy across the NHS, including social care and community care, with a focus on making sure that ‘the right people are tested at the right time’ to protect vulnerable patients, key workers and the wider population. This includes pathology labs to update GP records with test results to help trace positive coronavirus cases; testing kits to be readily available for patients with symptoms; and for GPs to be provided with clear guidance on how to assist patients with access to tests.

Marshall said: "Any testing strategy should support the existing national effort to contain the virus, support key workers and prevent a second wave of infection, to keep the entire UK population safe and healthy. It therefore must continue to ensure that the right people are tested at the right time to protect key workers and vulnerable patients. It should help us understand the virus and its spread better through test, track and trace. It should deliver timely results that patients and healthcare professionals can have confidence in.

"It is crucial that healthcare professionals have adequate guidance and transparent communication from government about testing so that they can interpret and act upon results… [and that] any testing strategy must commit to building confidence in the process, including a commitment to improving the sensitivity and specificity of the tests."