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Cepheid
Editorial Team
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May 21, 2025
COMMUNITY AND GLOBAL HEALTH
Article
Decentralising Diagnostics: Bringing Patient-Centred Testing Closer to Communities
The content presented on this page is intended for informational and educational purposes. While it is available globally, it may reflect clinical practices or healthcare system considerations specific to a particular region.
Over the years, the NHS (National Health Service) in the UK has faced growing challenges in meeting the demand for diagnostic services. Long waiting times and constrained resources have persisted, with over 1.6 million patients currently waiting for tests and over 22% waiting beyond 6 weeks. A growing consensus within policy and clinical communities acknowledge that delivering care closer to patients is essential to improving outcomes, reducing costs, and easing system pressures.
The NHS England's Five Year Forward View and the NHS Long Term Plan have favored new models of care delivery, and the COVID-19 pandemic helped to accelerate the introduction of new out-of-hospital initiatives, including the Community Diagnostic Centre program. Despite this, resourcing and healthcare delivery remains directed around hospitals, with diagnostic services, particularly molecular testing, overcentralized in England.
The newly elected Labor Government is preparing its 10-year plan for the NHS, and seeks to deliver on its three shifts, including moving care from hospital to community. This presents a unique opportunity to embed in-vitro diagnostics decentralization as a corner stone of healthcare delivery reform. By embedding testing closer to communities, we can reduce waiting times, improve access to care, and ensure more equitable healthcare outcomes across the country.
This Green Paper explores how decentralized testing can align with the government's vision for a more community-driven NHS. It identified barriers which must be addressed to scale current successes and outlines actionable recommendations to take near-patient testing further.
Cepheid is ready to roll out its vision for respiratory testing as part of its commitment to improving patient outcomes. In addition, the Fleming Initiative who brings together diverse stakeholders to drive solutions to antimicrobial resistance, support the proposals within the Green Paper to bring effective diagnostics closer to the patient.
Discover how decentralized diagnostics can positively transform healthcare delivery through improved patient outcomes, alleviate pressure on hospital services and contribute to the success of the government’s 10-year health plan.
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