POINT-OF-CARE TESTING
Enhancing patient care: a synergistic approach to diagnostics
With the emergence of new patient care pathways, the growth of point-of-care testing has been driven by new technology. This has offered patients improved health outcomes, utilising diagnostics and solutions that help relieve the pressures on our health system.
Una Health is a leading independent UK provider of diagnostics for the laboratory and point of care. The company’s vision is to transform patient pathways and improve health outcomes, utilising diagnostics and solutions that help
relieve the pressures on our health system.
Established in 2009, the company’s aim was simple – to help to provide the best service possible for customers at an affordable cost and with the upmost
flexibility. Over 15 years, its partnerships with industry leaders have grown, as have its carefully curated product solutions, backed by a team with extensive experience in the diagnostics industry. One of the first products distributed was the OPTI Blood Gas and Electrolyte Analyser, a point-of-care testing (POCT) device, so near-patient testing has always been at the core of what Una Health does. Point-of-care testing has been around for around 50 years, initially focusing on simple tests such as glucose monitoring. However, it has been in the past decade – accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic – that it has really taken off, with POCT now expanding to a wide range of biomarkers.
The shift of hospital care into the community
Fig 1. The portable QuikRead go analyser with testing capabilities for CRP, HbA1c, FIT and GAS. 14
The rise of POCT has been driven by increasing pressures on hospitals, coupled with a movement to treat patients in primary care or the community to alleviate these burdens. This healthcare approach not only increases capacity but also reduces strain and costs associated with secondary and tertiary care. More importantly, it heralds a paradigm shift towards patient-centred care, allowing patients to be treated in the comfort of their own home. Amidst the backdrop of the pandemic, the Government has intensified efforts with decentralisation care models such as ‘virtual wards’, Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Hubs and Community Diagnostic Centres. Virtual wards serve to support patients at home with monitoring and treatment, who would otherwise have to be treated at the hospital. The delivery of 10,000 virtual ward beds by the NHS in September 2023 underscores the DHSC’s mission to relieve pressures on hospitals, outlined
APRIL 2024
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