In April, BIVDA released a consensus statement signed by members and partners calling for the government to go further and faster in adopting point-of-care diagnostics in community settings.
As part of this work, Paul Fisher and Ben Kemp were guests of Lord Hacking in the House of Lords last Thursday, to hear him ask the government about their support for the integration of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests into community and primary settings.
In response, Health Minister Baroness Merron firmly acknowledged the enormous benefits of IVD testing in the community and the need for testing to be closer to home.
The minister confirmed that as part of the “10-year plan, we will ensure that more tests, including in vitro point-of-care diagnostics, take place in the community, which will be closer to people’s homes.” A new National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme will also be released shortly.
The well-attended session featured follow-up questions from Peers including Lord Nick Markham CBE, Lord Paul Scriven, and Lord O’Neill.
The author of the O’Neill Review asked if “even deeper and wider embedding of diagnostics across the NHS, including more in community pharmacies but also GP surgeries, would not only help in the fight against antimicrobial resistance but also other infectious diseases, but in addition stimulate the venture capital business in diagnostics, and all of these together dramatically potentially boost NHS productivity, and… help to boost the country’s growth trend.”
The debate can be viewed here and our consensus statement can be viewed here.
BIVDA’s Chief Executive, Helen Dent, said, “The strength of this consensus is in the alignment across the sector, and is backed up by the evidence collected by the team and member companies. The high-quality of responses during the debate is testament to the strength of the report and we look forward to continuing this drumbeat of advocacy.”
BIVDA’s Director of Policy and Programmes, Paul Fisher said “BIVDA and our members have long championed the benefits of rapid diagnostics in community settings to increase patient satisfaction and NHS efficiency and productivity. The health minister’s confirmation that they will plan an important role in the NHS 10-year Plan is hugely encouraging, as is cross-party support.”
