Key Themes | Description | Example Quote |
---|---|---|
Decision making Problems | Problems highlighted with regards to patient flow, infection prevention and zoning classifications | “We couldn’t keep them in the respiratory assessment unit because there was a flow of patients backing up in ED” P11 |
Testing | Current tests in use by trusts, along with considerations regarding accuracy, availability, type of test and routine screening | “we’ve got access in ED to 20 rapid tests per day [which] may come back in a couple of hours...And we try and reserve those for patients who are in particular patients who are going for urgent surgery … And the PCR will come back in several hours or possibly the next day” P10 |
Next Winter Season | Expected complications of diagnosing COVID-19 during the next winter season and the role and perceived use of differential testing | “...when we get to the winter, it can be extremely difficult to triage people. Because … clinically, they look the same...they will all have a temperature, they will all have a cough, some will have chest X ray changes, some won’t, and being able to cohort these people will be more difficult.” P7 |
Future Testing | The expected characteristics needed in future testing, along with priorities for testing in the event of a limitation in testing availability | “… in terms of you asking about point of care, it has to be interfaced with our laboratory with our laboratory information management system, and EPR [Electronic Patient Record].” P2 |
Lessons Learned | Key lessons learned from the first wave, both positive and negative. | “[We were] using an expert panel to filter the cacophony of noise into something which was decent quality, and also had usefulness. And I think managing information flow … was probably the best thing that we did locally.” P10 |