Overview
Progress through collaboration Helen Dent – Interim Chief Executive, British In Vitro Diagnostics Association
As we come to the end of 2023, it’s a time to reflect whether it was the year of diagnostics. We began with a clear change in the perception of diagnostics and their role in the future of healthcare. The sector welcomed the greater emphasis placed upon diagnostics during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been clear that it is vital for the use of diagnostics to be expanded and further embedded within the health system. The DHSC launched the Medtech
Strategy with a clear vision outlining how diagnostics would underpin the delivery of better patient care. The emphasis on community and near-patient testing was strong and there were plans in progress to develop these areas of focus, it is clear that diagnostic interventions early in the treatment process are now more widely recognised but adoption is still slow and there is still need for sustained advocacy and more funding. We have had guidance released from the pathology professional bodies and NICE which support the implementation of more testing in the community and the move to earlier diagnosis and improved patient experiences, however this should not be instead of laboratory testing and the skills, resources and expertise of laboratory professionals remain a critical and fundamentally important part of the overall solution. These existing services must receive more investment and funding to deliver patient services. There is still an urgent need to
integrate diagnostic tools at the forefront of healthcare services and it’s also important to align
therapeutic and diagnostic evaluations, using companion diagnostics wherever available. Advances in Genomic medicine and personalised treatments have such potential to revolutionise healthcare pathways. We hope to see more of these being funded and implemented. What we need now is more collaborative action with government, industry, healthcare providers, community pharmacy and academia to work together to drive the further use of diagnostics throughout the whole system, in both acute and community settings and maybe even into the home. In 2024, I hope that diagnostics continue
to gain momentum and we see more implementation of identified opportunities and more challenges in the system overcome.
THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE INDUSTRY HANDBOOK 2023 l 9
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