Our Response to the NHS Elective Care Reform Plan

The NHS has announced their Elective Care Reform Plan, aiming to return to acceptable performance levels by 2029 through patient choice, expanding the role of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), and using surgical hubs to deliver quicker surgeries.

We welcome the focus on expanding services through 7-day community diagnostic centres to improve access and outcomes for patients. However, to ensure the success and safety of these centres, laboratory medicine expertise must be at the heart of their design and delivery.

Kath Hayden, President of the Association for Laboratory Medicine, said:

"This plan has the potential to really improve how patients access diagnostic tests. But to make it work safely, we need laboratory medicine professionals involved to oversee the tests and ensure they’re accurate and reliable. Expanding point-of-care testing (POCT) in these centres is a great idea, but it will require the right staff to do the job properly. That’s a challenge we can’t ignore, but it’s key to keeping patients safe."

LabMed’s response to the consultation on the government’s 10 year plan included the following points

• 7 day community diagnostic hubs will require the use of point-of-care testing (POCT). Any expansion of POCT will require clinical scientist and laboratory medicine staff to provide the governance and quality oversight to ensure patient safety; the challenge will be the staff resource implications.
• There needs to be recognition that this service model may be more expensive when diagnostics are delivered by POCT compared to a laboratory test, however may deliver downstream benefits to patient care and reduced cost of hospital visits. Funding model will need to address pathway to ensure POCT costs are met.
• There are limitations to what tests can be delivered by POCT for patients in the hubs compared to NHS laboratories limiting the scope of investigations.

As diagnostic services change and grow, LabMed will work with all stakeholders to advocate for the expertise of laboratory medicine professionals to be included in future changes to make sure we can deliver the best possible care to patients and the public