Lateral Flow Tests in Healthcare Settings — House of Commons, 2022-03-28
Topic: Health
Margaret Ann Throup (Conservative, Centre-right): First, I thank the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr Sharma) for bringing forward this debate about lateral flow tests in healthcare settings. He speaks so passionately about health issues more broadly, and I am grateful for his speech on this important topic today. He has spoken previously about access to covid-19 testing, particularly in specific settings, and I want to put on record my thanks for his contributions on these matters As the hon. Member highlighted, the pandemic has provided this country with a monumental challenge. When coronavirus first emerged, we knew very little about it, other than reports that people were becoming seriously ill and, very sadly, passing away. The Government moved quickly with unprecedented measures that affected every single person on these isles, building and scaling up our testing capability to levels not seen before, sponsoring the development of groundbreaking vaccine technology and being the first country in the world to approve a vaccine. Our huge thanks go to all those who supported the vaccine roll-out and mass testing. From our NHS staff on the frontline, primary care workers and individuals in the community to the military providing expertise in logistics and planning, colleagues from the private sector and civil servants deployed from their normal roles, we recognise the immense effort and long, exhausting hours they have put in working to keep the nation safe I am proud of how the Government responded at pace to the challenges that health and social care staff faced. Since April 2021, we have dispatched over 5.8 million rapid lateral flow tests to NHS workers in England—directly to NHS trusts, care settings and the homes of individual staff members—with over 60,000 of those going directly to the hon. Member’s local NHS trust in Ealing Testing has been a crucial countermeasure throughout the pandemic. The world-beating scaling up of our PCR testing capability proved invaluable, enabling us to diagnose symptomatic individuals when facing a growing but relatively unknown threat from a new virus We introduced lateral flow devices in November 2020 as a tool in addition to the highly sensitive PCR tests. LFTs were a significant step change in our battle against covid-19, enabling us to open up greater levels of asymptomatic testing and tackling asymptomatic transmission when the vaccine roll-out was in its infancy yet still ahead of the rest of the world Since April 2021, 13,500 positive but asymptomatic NHS-linked individuals have been identified by LFTs. Through their tireless dedication to regular testing, staff in the NHS and in care drove that most pressing fight to protect those most at risk—their colleagues at work, their friends, their families and, most importantly, their patients. All were protected because we were able to break the chains of infection using LFTs. I want to put on the record my immense thanks to each and every NHS and care worker for their valiant and unwavering efforts Since the early months, we have learned a lot more about covid-19, including what makes someone more at risk of contracting the virus and how best to mitigate the risk of transmission. That applies in all settings, although especially in healthcare and social care ones, where the close nature of the care provided creates greater opportunity for transmission. In these places, LFT testing has helped to ensure that staff can continue to safely carry out essential care for those most at risk By relying on the expert advice of our medical and scientific advisers, many of whom have become household names because of their immense contributions, we have been able to take steps to mitigate the rate of transmission of covid-19. We are now in a much better position, where the link between infection and severity of disease is substantially weaker than in earlier phases of the pandemic. We have severely weakened the link between infection and severe disease. As the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) said, cases are rising again. However, we are on the front foot thanks to vaccines and community covid-19 treatments The UK’s investment in groundbreaking vaccine technology and our world-beating vaccination programme has put us one step ahead of the virus. Vaccination is now the UK’s first line of defence. Thanks to the actions taken by the people of the United Kingdom, as of 24 March 2022 more than 85% of those over 12 have had two doses. Now we are also inviting those aged 75 and over, residents in care homes for older adults, and individuals of 12 years and over who have a weakened immune system to take up the offer of a spring booster jab Importantly, we now have widespread availability of targeted community covid-19 treatments. For people who are eligible, those can significantly minimise the chance of developing severe disease. I hope that the spring booster and the community covid-19 treatment programme reassure the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall that we take very seriously the situation of the immuno-suppressed.