Shropshire NHS trust criticised for no Covid testing letter

In an email Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust said 'staff should not be testing for Covid-19'

An NHS trust has been criticised after it emailed staff to tell them not to take Covid tests if they felt unwell.

In the email, Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust said workers should respond to their own symptoms.

A screenshot of the email was posted online by a University of Leeds professor who called it a "callous approach to staff and patient safety".

The trust said it "sincerely apologised" for the email advising against the use of lateral flow tests.

A screenshot of the original email was put on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday by Prof Stephen Griffin, a professor of cancer virology.

In an email titled "staff should not be testing for Covid-19", the NHS trust said it had had "many reports" of staff testing positive for the virus.

It said testing could result in staff "having to remain at home for longer than their symptoms persist".

NHS guidance itself says while people are no longer required to do lateral flow tests, over-18s who test positive should "try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days".

National guidance is that healthcare staff are no longer asked to test

The trust's email read: "In line with national guidance, staff should NOT be taking LFDs [lateral flow devices].

"Instead, they should respond to their own symptoms and stay at home if they feel unwell."

The UK Health Security Agency said "most healthcare staff who have symptoms of a respiratory infection are no longer asked to test for Covid-19".

But Prof Griffin said an "advisory message" that people are not asked to test is different to being told "not" to test.

He said, while there may be staffing issues, it was "short-sighted to allow more people to become infected, because more people will go off".

He added coronavirus was not a "standard seasonal virus" and had a "greater risk" of putting people into hospital.

"It is just an illustration of how short-sighted people are being at the moment," he said,

"Crossing their fingers hoping most people will be be alright isn't sensible."

His post drew more than 450 comments and many said they were shocked at the email.

Clair Hobbs, director of nursing, clinical delivery and workforce at the trust, said it "prioritises the wellbeing and safety" of staff and patients.

She said the trust was seeing an increase in staff experiencing respiratory illnesses and wanted them to respond to their symptoms, whether it was Covid-19 or another infection that could affect patients.

Cases of coronavirus are rising in Shropshire, health officials said

"Whilst lateral flow tests accurately highlight if a person is infected with Covid-19, they do not identify cold or flu infections which pose a risk for patient groups under our care," she said.

"We recognise the message on this occasion could have been clearer, we will re-issue the communication and reflect on how our trust-wide communications are circulated in future".

Vanessa Whatley, deputy chief nurse for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, added it was aware of the recent communication and that while rising Covid numbers were not currently affecting services, that could change if more staff and patients contracted the illness.

"Staff health and wellbeing, and keeping our patients safe and well, is central to our system approach to preventing the spread of Covid-19 and will continue to be reinforced by NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin," she said.