The case for routinely testing NHS staff is "overwhelming", leading cancer scientist at the Crick Institute Dr Charles Swanton has said. His team identified NHS staff testing positive at the peak of the pandemic who were "completely asymptomatic".
But the study was not able to show whether these staff without symptoms passed their infections on to others. The Department of Health and Social Care said it was instead focusing on the routine testing of care home staff.
Dr Swanton said while the prevalence of infection in healthcare staff was now low, routine screening would be necessary "ahead of a second wave".
You would assume it would be common sense for all nhs staff to be routinely tested, especially when working with the public. My mother works in an old peoples home and she has only ever been tested once.
I a friend who fell couldnt get up was admitted to hosp as covid neg . do not know which test was in 3 weeks and sent to local Hosp /care home and when tested again was covid pos. Now home being cared for as cannot walk .She is not communicative but there were 9 deaths while she was in. She is a blacksmiths daughter and has inherited large lungs we think !And that probably helped her to recover perhaps.
I think NHS staff should be having regular tests for Covid. I went in hospital this week as was booked in for surgery, it got cancelled though so waiting for new date. I was tested for Covid 2 days before going In. and on the day of my scheduled surgery and also had a ct scan to detect possible Covid. I then had to sign something to say I understand there is a risk of me getting Covid during surgery. What concerns me is at home, I am shielding so very unlikely to have got it. But then in those 2days I was in hospital I came in to contact with various nurses doctors and medical staff, who I don’t know if they have been tested so I feel I am at more risk of getting it in hospital than at home! Sorry for the rant!
it has been reported that it is probably the support staff in hospitals not the doctors and nurses that might be spreading it there. Are they being tested. ?
Years ago nurses were routinely tested for MRSA. Due to the cost and the low level of positive tests this was stopped. Two years later MRSA had spread like wildfire. It would appear that lessons will never be learned.
when I was working thenurses were checked for MRSA but every 6 months the doctors move around and they were not tested at the same time . That started in the southern hemisphere and spread from there to all our hospitals in time . we did the screening and forwarded any resistant to the Ref Lab.
Definitely agree. 10 porters had it at our local hospital.. But also... The integrity of the tests comes into question. I know of medical staff who tested negative for Covid when they actually had it.
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