Cutting COVID-19 infection test times from days to hours
COVID-19 showed how vital rapid testing is to stop the spread of infections. Our pioneering Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) research cut diagnosis times from 21-48 hours to under two hours.
That prevented in-hospital infections, saving lives across the NHS and helping to turn the tide of the pandemic.
Key facts
Our POCT research cut COVID-19 diagnosis times from 21-48 hours to under two hours.
University Hospital Southampton immediately adopted POCT for all new admissions based on this data.
Dr Tristan Clark subsequently helped oversee a national roll-out of POCT for COVID-19, and by January 2021 all acute NHS hospitals had this in place.
Early results show that POCT has significantly reduced hospital-acquired COVID-19 infections.
Demonstrating the value of rapid tests
When you come into hospital with symptoms of an acute infection, the nurses and doctors use tests to try and find out the cause.
Samples taken from you are sent to the laboratory, but results take hours or days to be reported. Our POCT research is finding ways to make it quicker.
Between 2014 and 2020, we conducted two key studies evaluating POCT - the ResPOC study and the FluPOC study.
The ResPOC study involved 720 Southampton patients admitted to hospital with respiratory infections. They were randomly allocated to either standard laboratory PCR testing or POCT. POCT reduced unnecessary antibiotic use, the length of their hospital stay by one day and care costs by £80 per person tested (published here).
The FluPOC study evaluated POCT for influenza (flu). It used the same approach across multiple hospitals and involved 613 patients. It showed POCT improved antiviral medication and isolation facility use. It also reduced need for intensive care and cut deaths (published here).
BRC investigator Dr Tristan Clark fed these findings into UK POCT testing guidelines. Produced with Public Health England in 2018, they are updated annually.
Stopping the spread of COVID-19
When COVID-19 hit, we delivered a study evaluating POCT for SARS-CoV-2 in under two months. POCT cut diagnosis time from over 21 hours to under 2 hours.
This led to improved isolation facility use and patient flow though acute areas (published here).
Patients also accessed experimental treatment trials two days earlier on average. With no known effective treatments, that was vital to cutting COVID-19 deaths.
University Hospital Southampton immediately adopted POCT for all new admissions based on this data.
Overseeing the national roll-out of POCT
Dr Clark went on to contribute to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) report ‘Preparing for a Challenging Winter 2020/21’.
That report led to a DHSC working group involving Dr Clark. They oversaw a national roll-out of POCT for SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses.