[katieHaylor (OP)]

Pat says:

G’day Chris, you said today about the problem hospitals are experiencing; reduced beds because of the Coronavirus and delays in tests.

Why don’t the hospitals have their own labs for testing purposes?  Here in Australia most hospitals have this capability.  Resulting in isolation of admissions is less than 24 hrs.

What do you think?

[Bored chemist]

Why don’t the hospitals have their own labs for testing purposes? 

They have labs; they are practically forbidden to use them.
Because using them would reduce the amount of taxpayers money which is given to private companies (and thus to shareholders who are typically rich and vote conservative).

That's why the government does things like this.


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-nhs-testing-hospitals-shortage-b485589.html

With luck, this crisis will mean that nobody ever votes for them again.

[alancalverd]

I'm working on it. Can't mention the company in this forum but we have a very low cost 5-minute diagnostic in clinical trial right now.

Meanwhile here's the Achilles heel of the govenment decision, from BC's reference;

a clear set of deliverables

. This has been the problem of the NHS ever since St Margaret redisorganised it because some idiot from Sainsburys couldn't see (because he didn't ask) who was in charge.

An acute heath service is like a tactical air force: you have to respond to whatever comes through the door, so it has to be led by the guys doing the fighting, who are the most qualified professionals in the team. You cannot specify a "deliverable" in advance. MrsT's ignorant puppet wanted it organised like an army, where the generals choose a strategic target and the squaddies do as they are told. So they reorganised the NHS like a navy, with each Trust a selfcontained fighting unit that doesn't talk to the others in case they give away their position - all great fun and easy to privatise, but it needs an awful lot of replicated and expensive administration.

You need a strategic ("public health") element to eradicate a virus, but it needs to be implemented early, totally and nationally - three words that the UK government does not understand. It won't be delivered by the NHS and can't be delivered by bankrupt local authorities.

[set fair]

https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=80152.msg609974#msg609974