General Articles

Testing Times focuses on outlining the role of rapid diagnostics in relation to tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with an emphasis on identifying key barriers and challenges in relation to uptake of rapid diagnostics.

The estimation of hyperbilirubinaemia in the neonatal population is a critical step in the management of jaundice. Historically, the ordering of a laboratory total serum bilirubin (TSB) would have been prompted by the suspicion of, or visual detection of jaundice. Where bilirubin levels are rising rapidly it is essential to measure bilirubin levels as soon…

In October 2021 the UK Government announced that 40 Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) would launch across England targeting March 2022 to be fully operational. These centres will provide early diagnostic tests for a range of common conditions in a more accessible environment, dedicated to early intervention and with significant investment. Many of the investigations will…

Community pharmacies are an ideal environment to expand public access to point of care and rapid tests. The same governance requirements must be adopted in order to assure the patient of the quality of the results, and the effectiveness of advice given based on those tests. NHS England have released a new document https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/point-of-care-testing-in-community-pharmacies/ which supports commissioners and…

Cobalt Health boosts mobile CT service efficiency with a point-of-care blood analysis system from Siemens Healthineers – transforming patient pathways. The epoc® Blood Analysis System with epoc® NXS Host from Siemens Healthineers facilitates lab-quality blood testing at the patient’s side with results in less than a minute – reducing need for additional appointments and unnecessary…

Have total confidence in patient results for blood gas testing In addition to these high-quality samplers Siemens Healthineers offer free educational sales tools for correct blood gas sample handling,  which includes educational videos and single-page educational posters and guides. These documents follow international CLSI guidelines procedures for sample collection.

This article outlines the steps required to implement a new service or device at the point of care (POC) or other healthcare delivery point. This approach can be applied to the introduction of any diagnostic tool. A simple flowchart is provided here to accompany the following narrative. The Essential Steps Understand the Issue It is…

What is Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI)? Nobody expects to be in an emergency department (ED) with a head injury, but when it does happen we would all expect fast assessment, clear diagnosis and advice on how we should manage any persistent symptoms. Injury to the head can cause a disruption in cognitive abilities, including…

Key points: Accreditation standards available The importance of accreditation Why isn’t accreditation mandatory for clinical services Mandatory private service requirements Attaining accreditation for point of care testing (POCT) and decentralised diagnostics services is seen by some as the pinnacle of recognition and peer assessment. For others, achieving accreditation is not a goal, or at least…