POINT-OF-CARE TESTING
The clinical and operational leads who are knowledgeable about the impact of new testing or improved pathways need to be the ones with the autonomy to act, free from the constraints of numbers on a spreadsheet
applications must be reviewed by a formal group defined in the POC policy and accompanied by terms of reference which states the function of the group and the eligibility of the members. Applications must consider the full- service cost from start up to the ongoing revenue requirements. The cost of training staff, estates work, IT installation, capital costs, connectivity costs, must all be defined along with any cost avoidance, cost savings or downstream savings that can be identified and shared across budget silos. The cost of setting up a new service should not be a random number, but a calculation based on the activities, time and budget consumed in delivering the implementation.
Planning, vision and objectives
All POCT leads should have a three- to-five-year roadmap in place that defines the direction of the service for the coming years. This requires an advanced level of horizon scanning, industry knowledge and awareness of national changes in healthcare policy. Without understanding the direction that technology is moving in, services will stand still, fail to be innovative and fall behind the curve which ultimately disadvantages patients. Having links with the commercial sector is paramount in understanding developments in the in vitro diagnostics space.
Equally important is the resourcing
factor. It takes months or more to recruit an appropriate staff member into a qualified, HCPC-registered role. It takes longer to secure funding to grow the staffing resource in a POCT team. As part of the roadmap, service leads must bid for staff regularly and be committed to fighting for those posts as they are more than likely to be rejected if not accompanied by a detailed business plan and impact assessment.
Leads must be aware of the business planning cycle but be prepared to work outside of this cycle to gain traction and support for the strategy
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you will need to develop and deliver. A well thought out strategy, considering all known parameters in the three-to- five-year roadmap, is more likely to gain support than a hastily written business case requested by line managers a couple of months before the budget is reset for the coming year. Always be prepared, always be scanning for the next opportunity, always be aware of funding
streams and with whom to have those exploratory conversations. Horizon scanning is already uncovering
the reality of patient-centred care with the growth in diagnostic hubs and virtual wards. Demands will grow and new technologies will emerge. The most important cost in these instances will be IT related and the delivery of effective governance. These costs need to be factored into budgets before undertaking adoption.
Budget control
So, this brings us back to control. Someone has to be responsible, and someone needs to be reviewing performance versus spend. This is surely best delivered by the service operational lead with appropriate support and the qualifications/experience to deliver the business element of the role. This support
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