This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
NHS staff need coronavirus tests 'twice a week'
Derek Alderson, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, has said that NHS staff must be routinely tested for coronavirus up to twice a week.
Speaking at a Health Select Committee meeting about the necessary steps to get all NHS services back up and running, Alderson said that it was a vital measure to reassure patients staff were not unwittingly carrying the virus.
Hospital trust bosses say they are still waiting for clarity on plans for regular testing, with the Department for Health and Social Care stating that it was focusing on routine testing in care homes.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it had capacity to carry out just over 200,000 diagnostic tests as of 15 June. However, only 75,935 of these tests were actually carried out.
Research from the University of Bristol suggests that as many as 30 per cent of infections could be missed by a single swab test, something Alderson alluded to when saying it would be ‘pragmatic’ to test staff ’twice weekly’. He told the committee that ’there is adequate capacity, it just needs to be directed to those who need it most’.
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