On Monday 18th August, BIVDA chaired a meeting between Professor Sir Chris Whitty and his policy and delivery teams, and the BIVDA members who had been involved in an industry consensus statement entitled “Unlocking Our Communities Diagnostic Potential”. BIVDA’s report underlines the key opportunities to support the adoption of point-of-care testing in primary care and community care settings.
Initially, when BIVDA first published the report, there was a consensus that the National AMR Action Plan — whilst welcomed — included opportunities that were yet to be fully realised. A National Audit Office Investigation into how government is addressing AMR followed. It underlined that key commitments in relation to use of diagnostics to support antibiotic prescribing have not been met and have even been reversed, to great concern from our industry.
The meeting was originally arranged to provide an opportunity to discuss the role that industry can play in supporting progress on the Government’s AMR ambitions. This would include sharing evidence on the effectiveness of diagnostics in supporting primary care decision making and reducing unnecessary antibiotic prescribing and to discuss the role of AMR stewardship within wider policy development, in the context of the 10 Year Plan and the three NHS shifts.
The meeting date was rearranged due to commitments for the NHS 10-Year Plan and the Life Science Sector Plan, changing the focus of this meeting from development to delivery.
BIVDA Chief Executive Helen Dent explained to Professor Whitty and his team that the diagnostics industry is willing and able, and has an important role to play in the successful delivery of the National AMR Action Plan, the 10-Year Plan, and the Life Science Sector Plan, with significant opportunities to help with the three shifts. She proposed that industry is primed to collaborate with the NHS to be effective and valuable, and be included in policy development to deliver the Government’s objectives, as set out in the recent letter from Health Minister Ashley Dalton to BIVDA.
Each of the plans require industry in order to meet the objectives and industry requires alignment across each. Professor Whitty’s team agreed that it would be useful and helpful for BIVDA and members to be involved in policy and delivery development, particularly contributing with their experience and evidence. Helen stated that BIVDA considers it industry’s responsibility to ensure that the future needs of the NHS are matched with our capabilities, resources and evidence, alongside developing innovative products and services. To do this, she noted that it would be helpful to be involved in the planning across each.
Members were concerned that AMR has dropped in priority, but Professor Whitty confirmed that AMR was still the highest priority for government. Moreover, he mentioned there were several opportunities for BIVDA to be involved with the Office for the Chief Scientific Officer — namely Vicki Chalker and Kerrie Davies — as well as committing to explore an industry forum between BIVDA and government.