Climate change continued to climb the health agenda in 2022, with a renewed “Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service” report and the Health and Care Act setting the NHS new environmental targets.
Urgent adoption of point of care diagnostics in primary and community care is essential if the NHS is to achieve its goal of becoming the world’s first net zero health service. Of the four approaches to reducing carbon emissions named in the report, the new technology would enable the NHS to achieve three: bringing care closer to home, faster diagnosis and reduced interventions.
“Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service” estimates that 14% of NHS emissions relate to road travel and suggests unnecessary journeys should be reduced. This could be achieved if patients didn’t have to make three trips: first to a clinical appointment, then to a blood test and back to the clinician once the test results are back from the lab. Rapid point of care diagnostics allow a clinician to assess a patient, perform a test, get results within minutes and start treatment – all in one appointment. A fast track to treatment means a better outcome for the patient and, by cutting unnecessary journeys, a better result for the planet.
As well as fewer journeys, patients should now be making shorter ones. Multiple tests are available on just one compact diagnostic platform, making it ideal for use in GP surgeries, pharmacies and even patients’ own homes. It can be brought into care homes, to enable timely treatment of the frail and critically ill, and into at-risk communities to reduce inequalities through early diagnosis. Only 4% of GPs would choose the hospital as the preferred location of testing compared to 46% for the GP surgery, 18% a community hub, 15% a patient’s home and 12% the pharmacy.
Most GPs perceive improved quality of care to be the top benefit of point of care diagnostics, while others reference the fast turnaround of results, enhancement of clinical decision making and a reduction in escalations to secondary care. With the vast majority of GPs persuaded of the benefits, I hope to see a dramatic shift next year in favour of lab-comparable testing in the community. It has a vital role to play in delivering the preventative, cost efficient and carbon neutral health service of the future.
By Dr. Matt Fay, GP and Medical Director of LumiraDx