Hundreds of NHS Tayside workers, tested for coronavirus at a staff assessment centre, have been cleared to return to work after receiving negative results.
The site, which can screen as many as 150 people a day, has allowed scores of employees to return to the frontline of the fight against covid-19.
NHS Tayside was two weeks ahead of the rest of the UK in introducing the “hub” and began staff testing in mid-March.
Since then more than 1000 tests have been carried out – both on staff members and their household contacts
A total of 642 were NHS Tayside employees. 540 have so far returned to work.
Frontline workers, GPs, health and social care partnership staff, hospital staff, and pharmacists are all being seen at the site.
The health board says the number of negative coronavirus test results has provided a “significant boost” to its workforce – as fewer are having to follow strict self-isolation protocols.
Professor Peter Stonebridge, NHS Tayside medical director, said: “If staff testing had not been established, the self-isolation rules would have had a much bigger impact on our workforce.
“Our clinicians foresaw this could be a significant issue and so teams of nursing, medical, laboratory and support staff worked together to set up the staff testing hub.
“It was clear from the start that there needed to be a robust process for testing with staff advised to attend by appointment only.
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“We need to be very strict about the criteria for testing, however, people understand this and are following the correct process.”
He added: “It’s also really important that there is a flexible approach to who we test, with key areas which might be experiencing staff shortages prioritised on a day-to-day basis.
“This means that one day, testing may be prioritised for intensive care doctors and the next day it could be nurses or members of our support services.
“The teams who have set this up have been really outstanding. It’s been a brilliant effort by everyone to get this up and running and it’s really making a difference by ensuring our staff are safely isolating or are able to get back to providing key services for people in Tayside.
“I’d also like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who is staying at home. You really are doing the best thing and the right thing. Please keep doing exactly what you’re doing: Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives.”
