We do not need to carry out all point-of care tests (POCTs), but labs need to be involved early in the development of the tests, said IBMS Chief Executive David Wells.
David was delivering a session at IBMS Congress on Point of Care Testing: National Strategic Guidance for at Point of Need Testing, which was released earlier this year.
He said: “I have known for a long time that getting out into the community is a way to improve our diagnostics. We need to get our experts out there so people understand how we are working.
“We’ve got to make sure that we, as experts, work with people in different parts of the system to improve things for our patients.”
He added: “We should not necessarily be the ones doing all these tests, but we do have an obligation to patient safety and laboratories need to be involved at the early stages of development.”
The IBMS collaborated with the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) and the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB) to produce the guidance.
It aims to communicate with those responsible for planning and commissioning novel patient services outside of traditional care settings.
It outlines the strategic requirements necessary to adopt POCT where it is needed and how to deliver safe and high-quality POCT within an accreditable framework.
To read the full guidance document, visit bit.ly/45mMueI
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