FESTIVE HAUL: MILITARY MANOEUVRE 20FT TREE INTO PLACE

NHS tipped to save £24m after trials

A NEW test that can diagnose a patient with flu in just 20 minutes has led to significant drops in bed blocking and unnecessary admissions in trials at two hospital trusts.

Hospital patients usually have to wait for their tests to be sent to a laboratory and it can take several days to get the results, often meaning that they are put into unnecessary isolation, significantly affecting the management of beds.

The new test – named cobas Liat – means medical staff who are worried about a patient’s symptoms can take a single swab which is analysed by a machine.

Manufacturer Roche Diagnostics said it can be used to detect more than 40 strains of Influenza A and B, and seven of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a leading cause of respiratory disease.

It said the simple test could result in potential savings for the NHS in England of as much as £24m a year.

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust started using cobas Liat in January. It found that out of 277 tests carried out after four months, 128 (46 per cent) came back positive, leading to more efficient use of side rooms and quicker diagnosis.

The number of blocked beds dropped from an average of 11 pre-test to two post-test, and the mean number of patients with flu in a bay dropped from 12.3 to 2.7 during the period.

The trust estimates the amount of money it could save over a flu season by using the test is around £142,555, before the cost of the kits is accounted for.

This includes £104,125 of bed days saved, £7,560 in blocked beds saved and £30,870 in avoided admissions.

The cobas Liat system has also been introduced in the emergency department and the acute assessment unit at Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London.

Roche Diagnostics managing director Geoff Twist said: “I am delighted that the cobas Liat test has received such good feedback from Kingston and Norfolk, with it leading to clear and significant reductions in the number of unnecessary admissions, blocked beds and bay closures.”

Berenice Constable, head of nursing at Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This has had a big impact on improving timely treatment for patients.”

I am delighted that the cobas Liat test has received such good feedback.

Roche Diagnostics managing director Geoff Twist.

PICTURE: JONATHAN GAWTHORPE. BRANCHING OUT: Soldiers from Claro Army barracks help to manoeuvre a 20ft Christmas tree into position at Fountains Abbey. It will remain outside the Abbey – one of the best preserved in England – throughout the festive season.