Healthcare workers outside of NHS finding it harder to access testing, survey suggests

Healthcare workers providing support outside of the NHS are finding it harder to access coronavirus tests than their colleagues inside the service, a survey of nurses has suggested.

A poll of 22,000 health and care workers conducted by the Royal College of Nursing found 44% of respondents did not know how to access testing – while 76% said they had not been offered a test.

The problem was also particularly pronounced among the temporary workers, with four in five not offered testing compared to three-quarters of full time workers.

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

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.

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Source: The Independent, 4 May 2020