News, Policy & Media

20Apr

Invitation to register for coronavirus testing

As part of the Government’s Coronavirus National Testing Programme, the Department of Health and Social Care has issued guidance expanding capacity for testing to frontline workers who are having to self-isolate due to having coronavirus like symptoms or because a member of their household has symptoms. Government departments, national agencies and local resilience forums now have discretion to refer other critical workers in their area for testing as determined by local need and available capacity. This will now include frontline workers in the private sector, with a focus on staff delivering key medical, energy, utility, transport and food supplies.

 

More detailed information on the types of workers who may now be eligible for testing can be found at www.gov.uk/coronavirus-get-tested

 

The ‘medical supply worker’ group is intended to include employees working in critical medicines, vaccine and medical devices staff, where those staff are self-isolating/symptomatic and where they can’t do their work from home. Life science sector workers will need to register prior to arriving for a test via the Medical supply and distribution (non-pharmacy) link.

 

Any medical supply sector employees who think they are eligible and need to be tested are being instructed to speak to their employer (ie as and when an employee requests a test).  Employers will be provided with information on how to make an appointment either via a local resilience forum (where the local region chooses to organise testing in this way), via your national government department/agency, or direct from the Department of Health and Social Care. Any employer that has any queries should contact their local resilience forum, national government department/agency, or the Department of Health and Social Care on opshub@dhsc.gov.uk

 

To access testing sites, staff are advised to bring their usual employer issued ID.  You will remember that the BIVDA produced a simple template letter for members to issue to staff when the Government designated that “those working as part of the health and social care supply chain” were critical workers.  This letter may also be useful to issue to relevant staff when accessing testing sites.  You can find this letter linked here. 

 

Please find attached more information about the expansion of the testing programme, including:

  • Coronavirus National Testing Programme Strategy Summary
  • Coronavirus Frontline Employer Briefing
  • Coronavirus Frontline Worker invitation template

If you have any questions please do direct them to the ops centre opshub@dhsc.gov.uk.

Attachments

Related

Hospitals will have a capped amount of daily testing at 100,000 per day, Government has confirmed. T...

Read More >

BIVDA has hosted its first Brexit Preparedness Webinar with the Office for Life Sciences. Attached t...

Read More >

Please find attached a helpful summary of the different customs models used at the various UK ports....

Read More >

UK Market for IVDs shows an Increase of 50% in Two Years No-one can be surprised that the COVID-19 p...

Read More >

The NHS’s vaccination drive has now been expanded with the opening of 33 new vaccination centr...

Read More >
Life sciences credentialing register receives accreditation: a step forward for patient safety

Today, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care has approved the addition of ...

Read More >