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The Sheffield City Council has warned nursing home providers not to use the government’s highly acclaimed rapid COVID tests due to doubts about their accuracy.
In an email to nursing home owners, seen by Sky News, the Labor-led local authority said that COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing (LFT), which boast of a result in so little about 15 minutes, it appeared to show an “unacceptably high risk” of not detecting the virus.
The government hoped the rapid tests would allow relatives to visit loved ones in nursing homes without risk of spreading the disease.
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Pilot plans have been established across the country to test the technology, which uses a swab kit to detect for COVID-19 without the need for a laboratory.
The council is understood to have asked the government for technical data on the accuracy of the tests, but has not yet received them.
In an email, Sara Storey, Head of Access and Prevention at Sheffield City Council, wrote: “We recently learned that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will begin to implement Lateral Flow Test (LFT) kits to nursing homes coming soon.
“Sheffield City Council cannot be sure of the accuracy of LFT kits in high risk sensitive settings such as nursing homes.
“When used in practice, the performance of the LFT kits appears to show an unacceptably high risk of not correctly detecting infected people.
“We are urgently seeking clarification on this matter from DHSC. In the meantime, we are advising providers not to use LFT kits in nursing home settings in relation to residents, staff or visitors until we can have assurances of their effectiveness.
“While we understand that this may be disappointing news for some people, the safety of residents, staff and visitors in nursing homes is of the utmost importance to us.”
It’s a huge blow to one of the government’s key weapons against COVID-19.
The LFT kits have been tested in the Liverpool city region where more than 140,000 people have been tested.
The rapid test kit is considered crucial because it highlights people who have the disease but show no symptoms.
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Nicola Richards, CEO of Palms Row Healthcare, which owns two residential nursing homes in the city, said: “We agree with the actions that the Sheffield City Council is taking, the health and lives of our residents and staff must be Our priority”.
“The government should wait for the pilots to be complete before they are rolled out to nursing homes.
“This implementation is premature and could give false hope to families and residents. It could also put the lives of the most vulnerable at risk.
“Unfortunately, it is another example of mixed messages from the national government.”
Sheffield City Council was not available for comment.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Welfare told Sky News: “We understand the very real pain and consequences of separation from loved ones, and we are doing everything we can to allow people to come together and help improve well-being. of the residents “.
“We must also strike the right balance between reuniting families and ensuring that staff and residents of all ages in nursing homes are safe and well, while preventing transmission of COVID-19.
“We are testing tests of people visiting nursing homes to give families more opportunities to reunite and evaluations from Public Health England and the University of Oxford show that these tests are accurate and sensitive enough to be used. in the community, even for asymptomatic people. “
