Non-NHS healthcare staff had less access to COVID-19 tests

Coronavirus testing of NHS staff, care workers and other key workers at an Edinburgh hospital in early April. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
Healthcare staff working outside the NHS or on temporary contracts have had less access to coronavirus tests, a survey suggests.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) UK-wide survey of more than 22,000 health and care workers was conducted over the weekend before the government’s announcement of testing expansion.

At that time, 76% of all those surveyed said they had not been offered a test. Of those, 44% said they did not know how to access testing.

The RCN also found more than four in five temporary staff had not been offered COVID-19 testing, compared to three-quarters of permanent staff.

The survey found 79% of those working outside of the NHS had not been offered a test, compared with 75% in the health service.

It found that in care homes and prisons, about 50% did not know how to access tests. With temporary staff, this figure was 60%.

Of the staff who were offered testing, 90% were able to access it.


Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive and general secretary of the RCN, said: “It is concerning to see that some nursing staff, particularly those outside the NHS, are still having issues accessing COVID-19 testing.

“We know that additional measures have been recently put in place to improve access to testing and will monitor the situation closely.

“All health and care staff must be able to access testing so they can work safely and without worry.

“This is essential given existing workforce shortages across all health and care settings.”

The UK-wide survey was open from 24 April to 28 April.

In a bid to reach its target of 100,000 tests a day, the government dramatically expanded the list of people who are eligible for coronavirus tests in England on 28 April.