Covid-19: Calls to give NHS staff priority access to lateral flow tests

NHS workers must be given priority for accessing lateral flow Covid-19 tests, professional health bodies say.

The British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing said health staff should come first for the rapid tests to ease staffing issues.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said ministers expect they will need to “constrain” supply for two weeks to manage surging demand.

Meanwhile, Wales has loaned four million lateral flow tests to England.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said Wales had sufficient stock to meet its needs over the weeks ahead.

Mr Javid said the supply of lateral flow tests in the UK was being tripled early next year, to 300 million per month.

Labour is also calling for key workers to be prioritised for PCR and lateral flow tests, warning that the issue is adding to staff shortages.

Some NHS staff have told the BBC they cannot get hold of any, as they have to use the same system as everyone else.

One cancer care worker from London said she missed several days of work after being unable to order rapid tests online or collect them from a pharmacy – even after identifying as a key worker.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said: “This is one of the key reasons why there are absences on the front line.

“I used to pick up two boxes of 40 tests from work, but now I have to access tests in the same queue as the general public.”

Another NHS worker, based in Cambridgeshire, also confirmed to the BBC they had been unable to get hold of rapid tests through their hospital ahead of the Christmas period.

And a junior doctor based in London said her hospital does on-site testing for staff – but when three of her housemates recently got Covid, she was unable to get lateral flow tests to use at home.

“On the government website you can say if you’re an NHS staff member but it takes you to the same page everyone else gets,” she said.

The doctor said it was the same situation with PCR tests, so she paid £80 for a private ‘Fit to Fly’ test just before Christmas – more usually carried out before travelling abroad – so she could return to work and know she was safe to see family.

Caroline, a GP nurse in Kent, said she had to return to work after Christmas without taking a test as she could not get hold of any lateral flow tests or book a PCR – but later developed symptoms and tested positive.

“I will have put my patients at risk, including a new born baby coming for their first immunisations, and my colleagues,” she told the BBC.

Meanwhile, Covid hospital admissions are also rising, with 2,082 admissions in England on 28 December – up 90% in a week and the highest daily figure since February.

The latest figures do not break down data into those who have been admitted because of symptoms directly linked to Covid and those admitted for other conditions who tested positive on arrival.

The number of Covid patients in England’s hospitals – 11,452 – is still well below the peak of around 34,000 last January.

Current government guidance for NHS workers in England states those who are a contact of a Covid-19 case must test negative via a PCR test and take lateral flow tests for 10 days after the contact – with tests taken before their shift on days they are due to work.

The Department for Health and Social Care said the NHS has additional stock of lateral flow tests and stressed people who “live or work in vulnerable settings have access to dedicated testing order routes”.

A government spokesperson said: “Throughout the pandemic we have prioritised the most vulnerable when it comes to vaccines, boosters, testing and other infection control measures such as PPE.”

Issues with accessing tests have been reported in recent weeks, with intermittent online availability of lateral flow and PCR test slots, as well as many pharmacies lacking supplies of the rapid tests.

Problems getting hold of them could lead to people mixing over the New Year without knowing if they are infectious, immunologist Prof Peter Openshaw has warned.

The UKHSA has said that eight million lateral flow tests would be made available to pharmacies by Friday – New Year’s Eve.

Dr David Wrigley, the British Medical Association’s deputy council chair, said staff absences in the NHS were having an effect on patient care, with cancelled appointments and longer waiting times, and that key workers should be prioritised.

General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen, echoed this call, saying it was vital staff have access to tests to protect themselves and their patients.

Chris Hopson, the head of NHS Providers which represents trusts, said coronavirus absences were having a significant impact on the economy and parts of the health service.

Unison, one of the largest unions representing health workers, said NHS trusts need to “up the pressure” on the government to distribute the tests needed if stocks are low.

Latest data showed 18,829 staff at NHS acute trusts in England were off work due to Covid, either through sickness or self-isolation, on 19 December. Figures for more recent days are due to be released on Friday.

In other developments:

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