Impact of a novel community testing pathway for people with suspected COVID-19 in Wales: a cost-minimisation analysis
Objective To compare National Health Service (NHS) organisations’ testing pathways for patients with suspected COVID-19 in the community versus standard hospital testing practices.Perspective NHS commissioners and services.Methods During the containment phase of the COVID-19 pandemic we developed a...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMJ Publishing Group
2020-08-01
|
| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/8/e038017.full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850215942954418176 |
|---|---|
| author | Jonny Currie Robin Howe Brendan Healy James Adamson Bethan Bowden Julie Woolls David Heyburn |
| author_facet | Jonny Currie Robin Howe Brendan Healy James Adamson Bethan Bowden Julie Woolls David Heyburn |
| author_sort | Jonny Currie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective To compare National Health Service (NHS) organisations’ testing pathways for patients with suspected COVID-19 in the community versus standard hospital testing practices.Perspective NHS commissioners and services.Methods During the containment phase of the COVID-19 pandemic we developed a community model pathway for COVID-19 testing in Wales with testing teams undertaking swabbing for COVID-19 in individuals’ usual place of residence. We undertook a cost-minimisation analysis comparing the costs to the NHS in Wales of community testing for COVID-19 versus standard hospital testing practices and ambulance conveyancing. We analysed data from patients with suspected COVID-19 between January and February 2020 and applied assumptions of costs from national contractual and reference costs for ambulances, staffing and transportation with market costs at the time of publication.Results 177 patients with suspected COVID-19 underwent community testing via local NHS organisations between January and February 2020 with a mean age of 46.1 (IQR 27.5–56.3). This was 92% of total patients who were tested for COVID-19 during this period. We estimate, compared with standard hospital testing practices, cash savings in improved productivity for the NHS of £24,539 during this time period, in addition to further non-monetised benefits for hospital and ambulance flow.Conclusions Community testing for COVID-19 in Wales is now an established pathway and continues to bring benefits for patients, local healthcare organisations and the NHS. Further application of this model in other settings and to other infectious diseases may herald promising returns. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-680fd66bb24a45cbbe071460f83f4baf |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-680fd66bb24a45cbbe071460f83f4baf2025-08-20T02:08:27ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552020-08-0110810.1136/bmjopen-2020-038017Impact of a novel community testing pathway for people with suspected COVID-19 in Wales: a cost-minimisation analysisJonny Currie0Robin Howe1Brendan Healy2James Adamson3Bethan Bowden4Julie Woolls5David Heyburn61 Public Health Wales, Cardiff, UKMicrobiology, Public Health Wales, Cardiff, UKUniversity Hospital Wales Heath Park, Cardiff, UKPublic Health Wales, Cardiff, UKPublic Health Wales, Cardiff, UKUniversity Hospital of Wales Healthcare NHS Trust, Cardiff, UKPublic Health Wales, Cardiff, UKObjective To compare National Health Service (NHS) organisations’ testing pathways for patients with suspected COVID-19 in the community versus standard hospital testing practices.Perspective NHS commissioners and services.Methods During the containment phase of the COVID-19 pandemic we developed a community model pathway for COVID-19 testing in Wales with testing teams undertaking swabbing for COVID-19 in individuals’ usual place of residence. We undertook a cost-minimisation analysis comparing the costs to the NHS in Wales of community testing for COVID-19 versus standard hospital testing practices and ambulance conveyancing. We analysed data from patients with suspected COVID-19 between January and February 2020 and applied assumptions of costs from national contractual and reference costs for ambulances, staffing and transportation with market costs at the time of publication.Results 177 patients with suspected COVID-19 underwent community testing via local NHS organisations between January and February 2020 with a mean age of 46.1 (IQR 27.5–56.3). This was 92% of total patients who were tested for COVID-19 during this period. We estimate, compared with standard hospital testing practices, cash savings in improved productivity for the NHS of £24,539 during this time period, in addition to further non-monetised benefits for hospital and ambulance flow.Conclusions Community testing for COVID-19 in Wales is now an established pathway and continues to bring benefits for patients, local healthcare organisations and the NHS. Further application of this model in other settings and to other infectious diseases may herald promising returns.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/8/e038017.full |
| spellingShingle | Jonny Currie Robin Howe Brendan Healy James Adamson Bethan Bowden Julie Woolls David Heyburn Impact of a novel community testing pathway for people with suspected COVID-19 in Wales: a cost-minimisation analysis BMJ Open |
| title | Impact of a novel community testing pathway for people with suspected COVID-19 in Wales: a cost-minimisation analysis |
| title_full | Impact of a novel community testing pathway for people with suspected COVID-19 in Wales: a cost-minimisation analysis |
| title_fullStr | Impact of a novel community testing pathway for people with suspected COVID-19 in Wales: a cost-minimisation analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of a novel community testing pathway for people with suspected COVID-19 in Wales: a cost-minimisation analysis |
| title_short | Impact of a novel community testing pathway for people with suspected COVID-19 in Wales: a cost-minimisation analysis |
| title_sort | impact of a novel community testing pathway for people with suspected covid 19 in wales a cost minimisation analysis |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/8/e038017.full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jonnycurrie impactofanovelcommunitytestingpathwayforpeoplewithsuspectedcovid19inwalesacostminimisationanalysis AT robinhowe impactofanovelcommunitytestingpathwayforpeoplewithsuspectedcovid19inwalesacostminimisationanalysis AT brendanhealy impactofanovelcommunitytestingpathwayforpeoplewithsuspectedcovid19inwalesacostminimisationanalysis AT jamesadamson impactofanovelcommunitytestingpathwayforpeoplewithsuspectedcovid19inwalesacostminimisationanalysis AT bethanbowden impactofanovelcommunitytestingpathwayforpeoplewithsuspectedcovid19inwalesacostminimisationanalysis AT juliewoolls impactofanovelcommunitytestingpathwayforpeoplewithsuspectedcovid19inwalesacostminimisationanalysis AT davidheyburn impactofanovelcommunitytestingpathwayforpeoplewithsuspectedcovid19inwalesacostminimisationanalysis |