BIVDA takes part in a smaller steering group with regards to agenda setting and structure with NHS England at intermittent intervals.
Most recently, Helen provided some thoughts and challenges directly to NHS England about the need to be more specific in pathways, infrastructure for capillary testing and identifying clinical need better. This will then inform NHS implementation cycles and help industry understand how to navigate the different systems more easily.
Very soon, as a heads up there will be a workshop before mid-November to examine what industry can do through early diagnosis or triage interventions to give the public and patients confidence to present at the right healthcare settings to alleviate pressures on the health service.
Initially data has been shared on which conditions put the most pressure on the NHS through winter. Focus will then be on what can be done to keep people healthy or monitor/ treat at home and therefore those patients at the highest risk will be treated in hospitals.
Effective triage, or POCT can avoid A&E, and direct to urgent care response teams for example, and some of the frequent phlebotomy patients can potentially do this at home with blood spot testing and get the results into the laboratory with integration into patient records.
Following feedback, NHSE has identified that this workshop needs to be test agnostic and not to be too prescriptive so as to fully understand what solutions may be out there.
Further information will come out from NHSE via BIVDA (probably next week) however in the meantime the main conditions are arguably the obvious ones. Eg. Urinary, Respiratory, Coronary, Gastritis and mental health as a start.
In advance of anything concrete, we know that members already have products and case studies of how products can fit into early diagnosis and triage pathways, and therefore any members who would like to participate in this workshop are invited to email helen@bivda.org.uk with a brief description or provide a study and they will be kept updated of any progress with regards to the workshop date and agenda as and when it is released.
It would also be useful to know which “buyer” members feel would be most appropriate for technologies, Eg. Laboratories, Commissioners, Pharmacies, public, if its something considered as part of the adoption requirements, please also include this if available.
