Flu Point of Care Tests now taking place in our Trust
January 16, 2020
We have now launched Flu Point of Care Tests (POCT) for acute admissions at City and Sandwell ED and Sandwell ITU.
When the decision has been made to admit any patient presenting to the emergency department with a respiratory illness and/or history of a fever and flu like symptoms, they must now be tested for flu by POCT test before transferring them to AMU or to any other wards.
Quick reminder: It takes a nurse/HCA 30 seconds to carry out the test but the analyser takes 20 mins to give the result and the test is available 24/7. The POCT analysers are linked to Unity and the result will appear in the patient record.
Flu POCT will have a positive impact on effective bed management and patient flow, effective use of isolation facilities, targeted antiviral treatment, antimicrobial stewardship and will ultimately help to prevent the spread of flu within the organisation and prevent an avoidable outbreak
The microbiology department will continue to accept samples received for flu testing from inpatient wards without any requirement for additional discussion to take place.
Colleagues should also take the opportunity to identify patients who have not previously been vaccinated by their GP this flu season, and offer them a vaccination during their inpatient stay. Please see the below process for guidance on how to administer the flu vaccine.