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Hospitals must ration blood tests after issues with reagent supplier
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/07/nhs-coronavirus-tests-threatened-by-roche-supply-chain-glitchHospitals must ration blood tests after issues with reagent supplier
Urgent talks underway with chemical supplier Roche as non-urgent tests delayed
Denis Campbell and Sarah Boseley
Wed 7 Oct 2020 14.15 EDT
Hospitals across England are having to ration blood tests because of problems affecting one of the NHS’s main suppliers of the chemicals needed to analyse them.
Many hospitals have begun limiting who can have a blood test in response to a serious shortage of reagents which are used in processing them. Those with the most pressing medical need are having their test but non-urgent tests are being delayed.
Urgent talks are underway involving Roche, the firm involved, NHS England and NHS Supply Chain to try to minimise the disruption to the normal running of hospitals and resolve the issue. There were fears that the problem with the Swiss pharmaceutical company’s new warehouse could take two or three weeks to fix, but hopes are rising that that may now happen within days.
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