Rapid Covid-19 testing device at Addenbrooke's halves patient waiting time on coronavirus ward
A rapid Covid-19 testing device helped to reduce by almost half the averagestay for patients on a coronavirus holding ward at a UK hospital where themachines are being trialled.
The portable machines, called Samba II, can diagnose Covid-19 in less than 90 minutes and have been in use at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
The average stay for patients on a Covid-19 holding ward, before they could be discharged or progress with treatment, dropped from 58.5 hours to 30 hours while the devices were in use, according to the Cambridge University study.
Researchers said this "could make all the difference" in freeing up hospitalcapacity as the NHS faces a backlog of operations due to the pandemic.
Professor Ravi Gupta of the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases, who is the study's lead author, said: "The backlog of routine operations and screenings as a result of the pandemic is a huge issue, and must be resolved ahead of winter, when the NHS will face even more pressure from other infections like norovirus and influenza.
The devices have been developed by a University of Cambridge spin-off company called Diagnostics for the Real World.
Read more about the Samba II here.
Samba can deliver a diagnosis in less than 90 minutes whereas standard tests are sent for analysis in central laboratories where backlogs can result in delays of two days or more, the researchers said.
Addenbrooke's Hospital switched nearly all of its coronavirus testing fromstandard lab tests to the Samba machines in May. Researchers conducted their analysis by comparing data from electronic patient records of all those who had in-hospital tests done in the 10 days before and then after the switch to Samba machines at the hospital.
Dr Ashley Shaw, medical director of Cambridge University Hospitals NHSFoundation Trust, said: "Point of care testing has been hugely beneficial inenabling our clinical teams to make well-informed and timely decisions, keeping patients and staff as safe as possible throughout this difficult period."