We are currently looking at offering Lateal Flow Tests for our staff but for many reasons we would like these to be self administered by the staff member at home etc. However researching companies that are providing these tests I am struggling to find a company that doesnt state that the test must be admisitered by a healthcare professional or professional. 

Has anyone identified a supplier without this instruction or identified that professional is a term we can apply to our staff generally?

Thank you in advance

Originally Posted by: peter gotch

Hopeful

Fully aware that this question has been asked before on similar threads...

Why do you want to do this?

....and what will you do with the results?

What are you going to do about considering the implications of false positives or false negatives?

P

I have raised concerns and we are looking to see if it is something we wish to do to reassure our teams that are at work and potentially our colleagues who are remote workers but going into peoples homes, usually vulnerable people. I have stressed the risk of false negatives (more of a concern in my mind), complacency if you test negative etc. Just exploring the possibility with senior managers and providing as much information and guidance to assist in the decision making. We dont want to bring staff onto site and test for various reasons hence looking for a home test but most state for professional use only so I am hoping that this may be about it not being for private use, or something (always hopeful, hence the name!)

A significant factor to be considered in any project of this nature is the validity of the results. These can only be as good as the quality of the samples taken. This is where I suspect a large number of false negatives occurs. Having had the test myself, administered by a professional whilst in hospital, I cannot believe that everyone who has to do the test themselves will actually carry this out in such a manner that the reach the parts of the throat and nasal passages that must be reached for a valid sample. Thus I have to question myself what value I can assign to such testing, and this without considering all the other potential shortcomings. What could be the outcome if an employer takes the (potentially erroneous) results as gospel and acts accordingly?