From the 1st July 2021 registered pharmacies in Wales are able to provide lateral flow tests to identify asymptomatic people who may have COVID-19 and are likely to spread the virus, and there for break the chain of transmission.
Pharmacy contractors wanting to participate in the service (optional) are required to notify the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership prior to commencing the service.
Once registered to provide the service, The pharmacy can order the LFD test kits, free of charge, from Alliance Healthcare.
Within the NHS Test and Trace communications, the service will be referred to as Pharmacy Collect, advising asymptomatic people to collect LFD test kits, free of charge, from community pharmacies, to enable them to undertake regular testing as part of the Government’s COVID-19 roadmap plan.
Although people can request tests for regular use for other reasons - the most common circumstances that will prompt a person to undertake regular tests are:
- Leave the house for work
- My child is at school / I work at a school / I am in a bubble with school children or staff
- My GP / healthcare professional advised me to test
- My local council advised me to test
- Travelling to other areas of the UK
People self-administer the tests and report results away from the pharmacy, e.g. at home. - The pharmacy is not involved in this process or the next steps for the person taking the test.
Funding
- A one-off set up fee of £250 + an allowance for VAT, which covers set-up costs including creating an SOP for the service and training staff involved in providing the service, and storage costs for the LFT kits. Payment made on supply of first LFT kit.
- A service fee of £1.50 + an allowance for VAT per transaction. A transaction is the supply of up to two LFT kits per person, for up to four people collected by one individual in a single pharmacy visit.
Resources to support set up and delivery of the service
NHS Wales have produce an SOP to support the NHS Community Pharmacy COVID-19 Lateral Flow Device Distribution service:
Lateral Flow Device Distribution Service SOP
Resources for this service can be found on the CPW website.
Utilise the below text on your social platforms to drive awareness in your local community.
Simply copy and past to use. You can adapt to personalise for your audience.
As part of the NHS test, trace, protect programme, anyone in Wales who is symptom free can access a free pack of Coronavirus Lateral Flow Tests.
Call in to get your free test.
#covid19 #covid #coronavirus #pandemic #track&trace