The British Medical Association has written to the NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard asking for reassurance that lateral flow testing will remain free for NHS staff from 1 April.
Following the ‘government’s repeated failure’ to confirm that free testing would continue for staff from that date, when it is currently due to end for everyone in England, the association is warning that NHS staff have no idea if they will still be required to test regularly after this date as a condition for going to work, or if they will have to pay for regular testing themselves in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
Recent data shows that Covid-19 cases are on the rise, with the ONS estimating that more than three million people currently have the virus in England. The number of people in hospital is also increasing, with 17,685 currently receiving care.
The BMA says that no longer providing free tests would not only put patients and staff at risk, but also mean losing a primary tool for monitoring the virus.
The letter, written by Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, also asks for reassurance that NHS staff who test positive for Covid will be told not to attend work, and that the Covid related sickness absence and pay will remain in place from 1 April.
Nagpaul said: “Free testing is a key tool for measuring prevalence of Covid-19 among the public, as well as limiting the spread of infection, and we believe this should continue. It is particularly important to make lateral flow tests freely available for those who come into contact with people who are at highest risk from Covid-19, including the clinically vulnerable, to protect them from infection.
“Healthcare settings should be places where people feel confident that they are not at risk of infection from Covid-19. Free, routine, testing of healthcare staff will be vital to ensure we protect patients and workers as much as possible.
“Scrapping free testing would inevitably increase the spread of infection and mean more staff going off sick at a time when the NHS workforce is already severely depleted. Covid-related staff absences currently account for 30 per cent of all NHS staff absences, and this will only get worse if free testing is removed, again threatening our ability to provide safe patient care. Even if healthcare workers are asymptomatic, the virus can still be passed on and have serious consequences for patients, especially those who are clinically vulnerable.
“The NHS is the people who work in it and keeping them safe means keeping our patients safe. As well as free testing, the BMA has also asked NHS England for reassurance that staff who test positive for Covid will be told not to attend work, and that the Covid related sickness absence and pay will remain in place from April 1."
