The RCP has responded to a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus, into the Government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this year, RCP president Professor Andrew Goddard, appeared in front of the APPG on Coronavirus to provide verbal evidence on the UK’s preparedness and response to the pandemic. The RCP also provided the APPG with written evidence of the experience of physicians and other health care workers during the early stages of the pandemic.
Today, the APPG on Coronavirus has published its findings. Its report is the biggest review to date of the Government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
In response to the report, Professor Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians said: “We’re pleased to see that the APPG on Coronavirus has recommended that testing should be available to frontline workers and their households as a priority, and that results should be accessible within 24 hours.
“Progress has been made, with asymptomatic testing now available to all staff in high-risk areas, but it is vital all doctors and their families have access to tests when they need them. As we stated in our evidence to the APPG, this is vital to prevent doctors needlessly self-isolating while they wait to see if a member of their household has COVID-19. Where tests are available, the delay in getting results causes big problems – it means clinicians have to cover each other and clinical activities risk being cancelled.
“Testing must remain a priority as staff begin to receive vaccines so we have the best chance of beginning to clear the non-covid backlog of care. It’s important that we use the lessons learnt during the first stages of the pandemic to help us get things right in the months ahead.”