| Integrated Covid Hub North East Bulletin |
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| | An update about our work to support the regional pandemic response | The Integrated Covid Hub North East is continuing to play an important regional role in tackling the pandemic.
Since launching in November 2020, our collaboration with partners including local authorities, Newcastle University and third sector colleagues has strengthened the region’s Covid response.
This has been achieved through additional testing capacity provided at our Lighthouse lab, the evaluation of the latest Covid diagnostics at our innovation lab and through sharing resources, including data, information and insight via our coordination and response centre.
We are delighted to confirm that the UK Health Security Agency has agreed to a contract extension to the end of September 2022.
Our work is showing the importance of linking diagnostic tests, public and population health data and resources across organisational boundaries.
Importantly, we’re considering how all of this could be applied beyond the pandemic, particularly looking at precision health care and tackling inequalities, vital for improving health, wealth and wellbeing in all of our communities. | |  | | Key achievements of an integrated approach | | · Over 7 million Covid tests processed at our UKAS-accredited Lighthouse lab
· 12 local authorities supported with additional resources, new insight and analytics
· Over 35,000 test and trace calls made, to support local authorities with contract tracing across the region
· 800 new NHS jobs; 20% BAME, 17% LGBT, 8% disabled and 30% recruited to the Lighthouse lab from the 20% most-deprived areas in the north east.
· 21 commercial contracts signed through the innovation lab, in the UK and abroad.
· 15,000 Covid-19 samples held in our Human Tissue Authority-registered biobank.
· Over 6 million Covid vaccinations delivered across the region.
| | |  | | A short film showcasing the covid hub's services | | | Click image. | | |  | | Lighthouse lab processing around 1 million tests every month | | Our lab team is currently processing around one million Covid tests every month and has just passed the seven million milestone, with samples coming from the region and beyond.
The 800-strong team works 24/7 to produce fast and accurate results, enabling the test and trace service to contact people in a timely way and supporting them to take precautions to protect themselves and others.
In September 2021, we were delighted when the lab achieved coveted UKAS-accreditation status, meaning it’s been independently assessed as meeting the highest standards for quality and process.
One of the largest labs in the country, our performance indicators are consistently above target and achieving our ISO 15189 accreditation for medical laboratories provides confidence in the team’s competence and approach.
Variant of concern testing
Since May, the Lighthouse lab has provided a national variant of concern surveillance service for Pillar 2 tests (from walk/drive-in and home kits).
And since July, seven Trusts from across the region have been supported with this surveillance for Pillar 1 (staff and inpatient) tests, including: The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.
The emergence of new variants throughout the pandemic has highlighted the importance of this service, with the provision of quick results from a regional lab informing the delivery of patient care.
Integrating Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 testing
In December, we successfully integrated testing and IT systems to enable the Lighthouse lab to potentially process thousands of Pillar 1 Covid-19 tests for Newcastle Hospitals, which would include all inpatient admissions, staff and family testing.
Throughout the pandemic, these Pillar 1 tests have been processed at the main Freeman and Royal Victoria Infirmary laboratories, alongside their vital day-to-day work.
Plans to move this volume of tests to the Lighthouse lab would alleviate some of the pressures on the main hospital labs.
There is also potential for this work to be expanded to other NHS hospitals.
| | | | Coordination and response centre |
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 | | Coordination and response centre offers insight and resource | | | Our coordination and response centre at The Lumen in Newcastle, is working with local authority, university and third sector partners to provide additional insight and resource to support the north east’s pandemic response, through a range of initiatives which add value regionally and locally. | | |  | | Support with testing our vulnerable communities project | | This successful initiative supports Covid-19 testing for vulnerable and homeless people, giving them confidence and a routine to test themselves independently, helping to break the chain of transmission.
Working with homelessness charities and supported housing providers, including Home Group, Changing Lives, DePaul, and Newcastle City Council, the project has played a pivotal role in instigating behaviour change and ‘normalising’ testing, by making lateral flow tests available and accessible to people who may otherwise not have used them.
The scheme uses one to one encouragement to help individuals take a test, whilst they are verbally guided by a trained person before being assisted to record their result by smartphone or via 119.
An evaluation shows that 65% of people who took part in the scheme had never tested before and never would have without support.
‘Support to test’ is now a permanent model in Home Group and customers are encouraged to conduct regular routine tests.
The team has also worked to provide access to testing for individuals supported by Tyne Housing and this project has reached 21 different sites.
| | |  | | Call centre supports local authority test and trace services | | Through our dedicated call centre, we’re providing additional capacity to help north east councils manage contact-tracing phone calls for people who test Covid positive.
Our call handlers and contact centre managers currently work with seven north east local authorities and provide support seven days a week for six of them.
Calls from our centre display the dial code for each area, which encourages recipients to answer ‘local’ calls, rather than reject a call from an unknown number (which can be the case with national call systems).
The centre also uses a text message platform and has produced animations to support self-isolation, digital contact tracing and Covid vaccination uptake.
The centre’s work programme is expanding to help hospital departments with managing appointment attendance.
| | |  | | Tailored data analysis offers bespoke insight | | Our expert analytics team has access to the most current data in circulation and undertakes tailored analysis to provide the NHS and local authorities with a regional and local reports to assist with planning, response and outbreak management.
Data is drawn from a number of sources and can be analysed and evaluated through all steps from source to effect, sharing key insights in an accessible, bespoke format.
Reports include risk and vulnerability maps; forecasting and modelling hospital care; capacity planning and targeting vaccination hesitancy. A key overriding theme is the reduction of health inequalities.
Two bespoke tools designed by the team - known as the static socio-ecological vulnerability index and the vaccine hesitancy index - have demonstrated their effectiveness and potential impact in the country’s response to the pandemic, in a research paper published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe.
A data report is shared twice a week with the region’s local authorities. | | |  | | Innovation lab celebrates milestone first anniversary | | Our innovation lab is celebrating one year since it was set up to accelerate the development of the next generation of virus testing.
The lab, based at The Biosphere in Newcastle Helix and hosted by The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, brings together a partnership of local universities, healthcare organisations and industry, with the aim of bringing new approaches and technology to mainstream use.
Since launching in January 2021, the lab has engaged with over 70 organisations across the globe from the USA to Australia - with 58 based in the UK – and has 21 contracts in place with 12 companies.
The Innovation lab works in close partnership with the Lighthouse lab, which has helped to develop a biobank of 15,000 Covid-19 samples.
The evaluation taking place at the innovation lab is helping to not only tackle the current pandemic but also ensure diagnostics stay one step ahead of future virus threats.
The work now spans environmental surveillance, oncology and wider infectious diseases.
You can follow the lab on social media for the latest updates
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Linked In: Innovation Lab Integrated Covid Hub North East
Twitter: @innovlab_NE | | |
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