Rapid point-of-care testing: an important tool in virus management

Royal Derby Hospital has been leading the way in infection control through point-of-care testing (POCT) since 2018, understanding its importance not only for patients with regard to safety and how it impacts their progression through treatment pathways, but also for staff and how they can do their jobs effectively in safe environments.

In 2018, Public Health England declared that influenza was rendering the largest number of people seriously unwell since the winter of 2011, with figures showing that more than 30,000 people visited a GP in January as a result of influenza-like illness. That year, 1598 people lost their lives to influenza across the UK.¹

By the end of 2018 when its winter influenza management scheme began, Royal Derby had recognised a need to strengthen its defences against the impact of higher hospital admissions, as well as making its testing capabilities more efficient to enable it to treat influenza patients quicker and discharge them from the facility. In response, Royal Derby opted to invest in Abbott’s ID NOW for molecular POCT, which at the time could detect influenza A & B, and group A Streptococcus in less than 13 minutes.²