A bid to stop dozens of emergency ambulances being taken out of service every day after being used by suspected coronavirus patients has been launched in London.
The scheme involves a doctor visiting the patient at home to take samples rather than sending an ambulance to bring them to hospital.
The idea was created by Dr Laurence John, an infectious diseases expert at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, after 25 London ambulances in one afternoon had to be withdrawn from emergency calls to allow them to be deep-cleaned.
This process can take up to eight hours, at a time when LAS is having to cope with unprecedented winter demand on the NHS.
The scheme means only the minority of patients whose test proves positive require an ambulance to take them to hospital for treatment.
Dr John told the British Medical Journal: “We realised that [transporting people to hospital for testing] was going to be inefficient. The idea of home visits came from there.”
More than 4,500 people had been tested for the virus, Covid-19, in the UK by yesterday afternoon, with nine positive results.
The community testing scheme started at the end of January at North West London NHS Trust, which runs Northwick Park.
It has been expanded to University College Hospital, St George’s Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’.
The test involves taking samples from the upper and lower respiratory tracts. It is carried out within 24 hours of the patient alerting NHS 111.
The scheme, co-developed with LAS, could result in district nurses or those based at GP surgeries being trained how to perform the tests.
Sarah Logan, an infectious disease consultant at UCLH, said: “Community testing reduces hospital bed occupancy and relieves pressures on local ambulance services.”
