– Action to focus Test and Protect on those at highest risk –

At the end of the transition period from beginning of May we will move to a new steady state for Test and Protect. This will be built around six pillars and be supported by ongoing investment in testing as part of the required health measures for the effective ongoing management of COVID As with all diseases, the effective clinical care of a person with COVID will sometimes require testing to confirm or rule out diagnosis.

Those who are eligible for anti-viral treatments now, and for those future treatments in development, will continue to be able to access testing — in the community and in hospital settings. In addition, testing may continue to be recommended in advance of certain other clinical procedures — such as pre-operative testing — in order to improve patient outcomes.

Testing like this if advised as part of your clinical care will always be free at the point of need — as with all of our NHS. Evidence on which groups of people can benefit from, and are therefore eligible for, antiviral treatment continues to build and to be reviewed.

We will always ensure testing is available to help people get the treatment they need. The current route for people across the UK to access testing for the purpose of accessing antiviral treatment is the home order channel for both LFD and for follow up PCR.

This route will remain the key route for access for those in the community, with tests for those in hospital arranged by clinicians in the usual way and processed in our NHS Scotland laboratories. Some regular asymptomatic testing — for example in health and social care workforces — will continue to be in place, alongside a range of other infection prevention and control measures such as PPE , in order to reduce the risk of the spread of infection in settings where the clinical risks of transmission are high.

Precise advice for different workforce groups within the broad category of health and social care will continue to evolve, based on clinical advice. For many groups, the advice will be to continue to test twice weekly with LFD tests. In general in social care, the priority will continue to be testing in long stay settings for elderly people such as residential care homes.

There will also be a continuing priority in health care worker testing to support testing for hospital based staff to reduce the risk of infection spread in our hospitals. Similarly, there will be continued access for testing to support care home and hospital visiting, subject to regular clinical review and advice.

Not all surveillance requires testing — much of the long running respiratory surveillance systems in Scotland, both in the community and in hospitals, relies on a range of measures including data from GP systems and NHS24 , monitoring trends at a population level in the reporting of certain symptoms, and monitoring disease severity and patient outcomes in hospital settings.

However, testing will remain a critical part of enhancing this existing surveillance, to best adapt to the additional requirements of effectively monitoring COVID trends and new variants. This includes ongoing random sample PCR testing through the ONS Community Infection Study, wastewater testing, and genomic sequencing to investigate variants of interest and concern when they arise.

A proportion of regular testing carried out for clinical care purposes — for example, hospital based PCR testing, will also routinely be sequenced, enabling a further layer of surveillance for any emerging signals of new variants of concern. At times, in particular as part of the investigation of potential new variants, testing will be part of the regular Health Protection led response to outbreaks of respiratory disease — which will include COVID outbreaks — in settings.

Public Health Scotland are leading on the key guidance to local Health Protection teams on investigating new variants of concern — the Variants and Mutations Plan — which includes clear processes on testing and contact tracing as part of outbreak investigation and response. The ability to respond in the event of new variants requires contingency to be maintained across Test and Protect capabilities.

This includes a core contingency of LFD stocks, Mobile Testing Units, PCR testing capacity and the ability to rapidly sequence positive tests, and enhanced Health Protection teams in local Health Boards with retained skills in complex outbreak investigation and support from PHS experts in epidemiology.

Sufficient LFD stocks will be held in contingency in Scotland to enable a rapid increase in the intensity of targeted testing if required in the event of a new variant of concern.

This contingency would assist in adding to layers of protection that may need to be enhanced, in particular around high risk closed settings. Contingency stocks will be sufficient to enable two months of additional enhanced testing, which also enables time to procure additional testing if required. In addition, to support the investigation of new variants, a contingency fleet of ten Mobile Testing Units will be maintained, and ongoing access to a reduced UK wide network of PCR testing will be retained.

We will also keep the daily case rates, hospital data and other key indicators under close review over the transition period and retain the option — subject to clinical advice — of being able extending symptomatic testing beyond the end of April using lateral flow tests if the pandemic circumstances require this. In the two years since the pandemic started Scotland has invested significantly in diagnostics and in wider health protection measures to support the Covid response. There will continue to be activity to build on this testing legacy to support wider population health goals.

The changes above are significant, and they are possible thanks to the progress we have made in our ability to protect our population from the most severe harms of COVID through vaccinations and through new treatments. Diagnostics will remain critical — not least as part of our efforts to remain vigilant and be prepared for future pandemic phases.

Their purpose is now changing, and we will continue to ensure they play a key role, in our ongoing management of COVID ; in our wider pandemic preparedness and in our ongoing efforts to improve the health of Scotland’s population. She said she took the test because her brother tested positive on a lateral flow, but she has had no symptoms of the illness and her own LFD tests have repeatedly come back negative. It “ruined” Christmas, she said. I was just waiting for the result – and I just don’t think the delay is acceptable.

A spokesperson for the Scottish government said anyone who has not received a result within 72 hours should call the helpline on Image source, Getty Images. Extra capacity is being added to labs to deal with high demand. Boxing Day Covid cases highest on record Omicron: Good news, bad news and what it all means. Some had to change their Christmas plan while they waited for their PCR results.

Apology for delay. Image source, Jenkins family. Paul and Nicola Jenkins, and their son Jack, had to cancel Christmas plans while they waited for a test result. Book a coronavirus booster vaccination. If you register for an account on the NHS Scotland portal, it’ll save time when reporting future results.

You should report your result through the NHS Scotland portal. You should then take a screenshot as proof of your negative test result. If you don’t work in health or social care, you should report your result on the UK Government website. If you register for an account on the portal, it’ll save time when reporting future results.

– Why is my pcr test taking so long scotland

Others affected by the issue were Nicola and Paul Jenkins, from Glenboig in North Lanarkshire, who had to cancel plans to host Christmas dinner for their wider family. The couple and their month-old son, Jack, took PCR tests on 23 December after Mr Jenkins, 36, tested positive on a lateral flow device.

His wife and son have still not received their results. The woman, who is heavily pregnant and has received both vaccines and the booster, lives with her husband and their six-year-old son in Dundee. She said she took the test because her brother tested positive on a lateral flow, but she has had no symptoms of the illness and her own LFD tests have repeatedly come back negative. It “ruined” Christmas, she said. I was just waiting for the result – and I just don’t think the delay is acceptable.

A spokesperson for the Scottish government said anyone who has not received a result within 72 hours should call the helpline on Earlier this month, as part of its winter plan to battle COVID, the White House said it would require insurers to reimburse Americans for the cost of over-the-counter at-home tests, in addition to those that are administered at the point of care.

In New York, medical provider CityMD is advertising three- to five-day turnaround times for PCR tests, the costs of which are fully covered by most insurers, according to the drop-in health services provider. A five-day old test result is useless for someone who is en route to Canada, for example, which requires proof of a negative PCR test administered within 72 hours of takeoff. One reason for the widespread delay in delivering results likely has to do with staffing challenges , experts said.

There needs to a broad strategic plan to monitor and ensure access to all types of testing and quick turnaround times. Long delays can also make a test less useful if an individual has the virus and doesn’t know she is infected. That’s where the inequality could be further exacerbated by this,” Columbia University’s Chan said. Omicron variant sparks new safety measures.

Please enter email address to continue. Many rapid result tests guarantee results in as little as twenty minutes, and on-site RT-PCR testing may only take a few hours to process. Despite these manufacturer expectations, however, sometimes, things simply happen.

To learn more, get in touch with a Covid Clinic test site near you. Skip to content Back to all. March 3, Business Hours Some labs differ in their guaranteed collection times, and this matter may be further complicated when you factor in things like couriers and even USPS pick-up and delivery times. In the face of the surge in Omicron cases the Government changed the rules so some people won’t have to wait for a follow up PCR test, after getting a positive lateral flow. Those testing positive on a lateral flow are now required to isolate for five full days, and can leave quarantine on day six after negative tests on day five and six.

If you’ve got symptoms of the virus, you can get a test and there are 12 other reasons that you can still access a follow up PCR.

The NHS says you can get a free PCR test if you have a new persistent cough , a high temperature or a loss of taste or smell. You can also do a lateral flow test at home which takes just 30 minutes and due to Omicron cases being high across the UK, people are urged to just take these. While Omicron cases remain high, they are falling and most people who catch the bug say they have cold-like symptoms.

A string of hugely positive studies show Omicron IS milder than other Covid strains, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta. Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic , health officials have repeatedly said. The Sun’s Jabs Army campaign is helping get the vital extra vaccines in Brits’ arms to ward off the need for any new restrictions.

Why is my pcr test taking so long scotland. Coronavirus (COVID-19): Test and Protect – transition plan

 
Anyone visiting a care home or hospital will be asked to do a lateral flow test in advance. Self-isolation exemption scheme guidance is available for essential workers. Turn on more accessible mode. SignVideo is a free online British Sign Language interpreter service for If you’ve been asked to attend a medical or dental appointment in person, let them know about your positive test result. The UKHSA added: “Fast action has been taken to expand processing capability and add extra capacity to our laboratory network to meet this exceptional demand. Click ‘Accept all cookies’ to agree to all cookies that collect anonymous data.