Clear testing strategy required rather than focus on targets, GPs warn

The Government needs to move away from an “arbitrary focus on numbers” to a clear testing strategy to prevent a second wave of coronavirus infections, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has warned.

In a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, RCGP chair Professor Martin Marshall said there is a lack of confidence in the Government’s testing strategy – including in the accuracy and timing of results.

He added that while improvements have been made, a clear and comprehensive plan is needed to stop a second swell of cases.

“As we ease lockdown over the coming weeks and months, it is essential that the profession and patients have full confidence in the approach to test, track and trace.”

Prof Marshall said a joined-up approach is required between the NHS, social care and community care – including care homes which he warned are on the “front lines” of the pandemic.

He added: “In the absence of a clear strategy and with delays in social care planning, patients have been left vulnerable.

Prof Marshall stressed the importance of confidence in the testing strategy from both the healthcare profession and the general public as the Government moves to ease parts of the lockdown.

He said the Government needs to clearly inform the public about the importance of test, track and trace, and other measures that will accompany the NHS Covid-19 tracking app.

Meanwhile, Sir Mark Walport, chief executive of UK Research and Innovation and a former government chief scientific adviser, said test, track and trace is critical as a second wave is still a possibility.

He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “It is a combination of people being really careful about how they behave coupled with identifying cases as early and as rigorously by testing as possible, and then working out who their contacts have been and making sure that they do isolate themselves.

“As measures are taken to relax social distancing, they have got to be taken very, very cautiously indeed.

Prof Marshall added the RCGP is aware of concerns from healthcare workers about the accuracy and timing of some test results.

He said: “We know that the distances that tests are travelling to labs and the wait time for results is undermining confidence in the process and results themselves.

“Any testing strategy must therefore commit to building confidence in the process, including a commitment to improving the sensitivity and specificity of the tests.”

Prof Marshall also called for GPs to be given guidance on how to help patients get tested, and asked for “transparent communication” from Government.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “High-quality testing on a mass scale is an integral part of our strategy to stop the spread of the virus and save lives.

“Thanks to the significant increases in capacity which we have built at pace, tens of millions of people are now eligible for tests and we have been able to prioritise our frontline health and care staff, essential workers and the most vulnerable, including in our care homes.

“We have also doubled the capacity of NHS and PHE labs to ensure people receive their results swiftly, with 95% of tests processed in less than 48 hours.”