Chief medical officer says unused testing capacity expected to grow

Scotland’s chief medical officer expects a gap between testing capacity and the number being carried out to continue to grow as the government ramps up its test, trace and isolate strategy.

Scottish officials have faced scrutiny over why the number of tests remains so far below the capacity available.

The Scottish Government said in a report published last week it hopes to reach a capacity of 15,500 tests but has carried out an average of just 1,792 per day over the past week.

Dr Gregor Smith said it was “inevitable” there would be a gap between the demand led by clinicians seeking tests for patients and the significantly higher level of testing required to facilitate a test, trace and isolate approach.

He reported there had been an overall decline in the number of individuals seeking a test as lockdown measures continue to slow the spread.

“Deciding to ask for a test – for a clinician – needs to answer a clinical question,” he said.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was asked at her daily briefing why people in Scotland are currently waiting around 30 hours to receive the results of their test, when other countries are able to do it in four.

Ms Sturgeon said the turnaround time for tests was “very important” and discussions had been ongoing with labs about how to reduce the length of time taken between a patient identifying symptoms to them receiving results.

The first minister also stressed that the Scottish Government’s testing strategy was being driven by “clinical priorities” while it builds up enough capacity to roll out the test, trace and isolate method.

“Deciding to ask for a test – for a clinician – needs to answer a clinical question. DR GREGOR SMITH