Coronavirus testing for staff and residents

The government has produced a useful reference matrix for how to organise testing for different staff, residents and clients.

Please also refer to GOV.UK: admission and care of residents in a care home during coronavirus.

Anyone with symptoms can get a coronavirus test, whatever their age, through national testing routes. If you or a member of your family has coronavirus symptoms, you need to get a test done as soon as possible within the first 5 days of having symptoms.

National testing can be booked through GOV.UK.

This offers 2 options:

• Testing yourself at home
• Visiting a testing site

Walk-through testing sites are open seven days a week at The Gateway offices in Aylesbury and Buckinghamshire New University campus in High Wycombe. You must book your appointment before attending.

Staff working in Care homes, supported living and home care are now able to get routine testing for COVID-19.

Please review the relevant section of the Government website for more detailed advice.

• Get coronavirus tests for a care home
• Care Home COVID-19 Testing Guidance
• Testing service for extra care and supported living settings
• Testing for Home care workers (staff only)

Contacting Health Protection about COVID-19 cases

Care providers, and other commissioned service providers need to contact the Thames Valley Health Protection Team via 0344 225 3861 (option 4) if:

• you suspect your setting has a new coronavirus outbreak. This means more than one confirmed case of coronavirus (staff or residents / service users) within a 14 day period.

The staff notifications are particularly important as NHS Test and Trace will no longer escalate single staff cases through to Health Protection.

Providers outside of the Thames Valley should contact their local Health Protection Team.

You should obtain consent to conduct the test from the resident, family members or GP in line with your usual policies and procedures and the specific circumstances of each resident. Some residents, for example some people with dementia, learning disabilities or mental health conditions, may lack the relevant mental capacity to make a decision about their own testing. You should consider if the 3 principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 allow you to make a ‘best interests decision’ to swab and receive results, on their behalf.

As far as possible, residents should be offered the choice to either self-administer the test on themselves or to have the test administered by a suitable member of staff.

To arrange collection of swabs you can book your courier collection via Care Home Collect.

To arrange courier collection of test kits, you will need your 8-digit unique organisation number (UON) and postcode.

Next day collection needs to be booked by 7pm.

If you need an emergency collection, call the customer contact centre:

• England, Wales and Northern Ireland: call 119 (free from mobiles and landlines)

In addition to testing capacity through the national portal we also have a local swab team provided by FedBucks.

NHS Test and Trace have produced the following easy read posters which can be downloaded from the resource hub.

• Stay at home if you might have coronavirus
• Get tested if you have any signs of coronavirus
• Get tested if you have any signs of coronavirus - with symptoms