23rd February 2022
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Guy’s and St Thomas’ launch new app for recording Covid tests
The new app will make the process of recording and submitting a Covid test result easier for both visitors and staff
“Using this digital reading application we were able to realise the potential diagnostic, infection control and operational benefit inpatient lateral flow testing could offer." Dr Rahul Batra, clinical innovations and disruptive technologies lead in the Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research at Guy’s and St Thomas’
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has rolled out an app that enables hospital visitors to record and submit their Covid-19 test results at home.
Public Health England rules state that hospital visitors must take a lateral flow test ahead of their visit and present the results to staff. The new ClearScreen app, developed by TestCard in collaboration with SureScreen, a lateral flow test manufacturer, will make the process simpler and faster.
To gain access to ClearScreen, visitors will be invited by email to download the app and authenticate themselves with a unique QR token. After testing for Covid using a SureScreen nasal swab antigen test provided by the hospital, they will be able to use their smartphone as a clinical-grade scanner to capture and analyse the test results, removing the need for manual interpretation and result recording. After verifying that all steps have been undertaken correctly, the app will deliver a positive, negative or invalid result. The results will then be recorded in the hospital portal for reporting and compliance purposes.
Reliable results that reduce stress
Because visitors can take the test at home, staff will no longer need to manage the testing on their behalf, saving time.
Dr Rahul Batra, clinical innovations and disruptive technologies lead in the Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research at Guy’s and St Thomas’ said: “Using this digital reading application we were able to realise the potential diagnostic, infection control and operational benefit inpatient lateral flow testing could offer.
“In real time, the ClearScreen team were able to react and provide solutions to the numerous issues that arise in developing and deploying new technology within the NHS, at speed and during an unprecedented global pandemic.”
Andrew Botham, chief scientific officer and founder at TestCard said that visitors could now “perform the testing with confidence, whilst ensuring the results produced are reliable, cutting out stress for them and hospital staff. For inpatients, the solution tests and records results with a level of accuracy and traceability hospitals do not currently have for tests of this kind.”
