Nearly £250 million is to be injected by the government into the modernisation of diagnostic care across the NHS. This will lead to improved technology, data sharing, accelerate routine care and, crucially, help tackle significant care backlogs.
Delivering more diagnostic tests, health checks and scans is non-negotiable for the UK population’s health at this moment in time, with nearly six million people awaiting treatment. Some 70% of information to inform clinical decision-making comes from diagnostics, and in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) are critical to continuing to support the fight against COVID but also essential to reduce the backlog of patients undiagnosed or waiting for treatment as a result of the pandemic. Supporting the development and roll-out of home-grown diagnostic solutions will enable NHS agility in responding to current health challenges.
Despite the importance of IVDs to optimal patient care, less than 1% of the NHS budget is dedicated to the uptake of new and innovative IVD products. The British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) welcomes this funding, but stresses the importance of continued support for the IVD sector to develop these outcome-changing products, have them authorised for use, and swiftly adopted into patient care pathways.