The importance of at-home testing

With the impacts of COVID-19 still pressurising the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), along with chronic underinvestment and understaffing, the waiting list to get an appointment with a GP is still at an all all-time high.

A recent BBC article solidified this difficult reality, as the government’s target to reduce the hospital waiting list in England faced some serious doubts. With latest figures showing a record 7.68 million people waiting for treatment at the end of July, Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, told BBC News that it would be “very hard” to reduce the wait times by next March as promised. As nearly one in seven people are waiting for a hospital appointment, patients in need of timely medical attention often find themselves waiting weeks, if not months, before they can see a healthcare professional. Such delays can exacerbate health issues, cause anxiety, and hinder early intervention, leading to potentially more severe medical problems in the long run. In response to these challenges, at-home testing kits have emerged as a vital resource for individuals seeking a more appropriate and efficient way to monitor their health. So, what are they?  

Home testing kits can be posted to your house, and typically include a set of user-friendly devices, tools and instructions that allow people to test for, screen, or monitor certain diseases and conditions in the privacy of their own home. From measuring cholesterol levels to screening for infectious diseases, monitoring hormone imbalances, or testing for sexually transmitted diseases, these kits cover a wide spectrum of health-related needs. A search using a keyword tool by medical device experts Owen Mumford has revealed the most searched-for at-home medical testing and sampling kits. The research found that food intolerances were the most searched-for at-home test with 46,430 average total Google searches. This was followed by blood tests with 40,420 average searches, then chlamydia with 33,750 searches. Once the specific samples are collected, users can send them to a laboratory for analysis or use built-in mechanisms for immediate results.  

With the current pressures on the healthcare services, home-testing has become a necessary solution to give patients the care they need when they need it. However, it also brings with it further benefits which hospital care perhaps cannot provide. For example, it is a particularly beneficial solution for those who feel embarrassed to test for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Despite STDs being more openly discussed, the topic still holds a certain level of taboo, meaning people often feel more comfortable to test within the privacy of their own homes. Further to this, there is a high level of convenience with self-test kits. For people who have difficulties with mobility or live in remote areas with limited public transport and healthcare services, testing at home provides a much-needed solution.  

If we dig a little deeper, we find that the benefits branch out from just the patient-centric sphere. One of the most compelling arguments for the need for more at-home testing is that it provides a more cost-effective option than a trip to the hospital. By testing within the comfort of your own home, it eliminates expenses associated with clinic or laboratory visits, such as transportation, appointment fees, and parking costs. Especially as many home-testing kits can be acquired for free through the NHS. The knock-on effect of less transportation is that at-home testing is thought to have less of an environmental impact than a trip to the doctors. This exact argument was prominently featured within a recent edition of the Pathologist, as an article explored the additional environmental gain that at-home testing can bring. Patient and staff transportation is negated, meaning carbon emissions are reduced. Furthermore, with some testing kits giving results on the spot, the need for transportation to laboratories is also relieved.  

Ultimately however, whilst there may be convenient ways to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare, self-testing kits and the devices within them must always meet safety and quality related regulatory standards. Due to the growing necessity of at-home testing and its benefits, there is an onus on medical device manufacturers to create lancing devices, medical tools used to prick the finger to obtain a sample, which suit the home-test environment. Without a healthcare professional present to supervise or demonstrate, devices must be simple to use and safe in order to avoid unnecessary injury and reduce the risk of preanalytical errors when collecting the blood sample. A contaminated sample means results are either impossible or inaccurate, rendering the test useless.  

The practicalities must also be considered. Whilst some home test kits are available to buy physically in stores, many are delivered by mail. Ideally, the packaging should fit through a standard letter box to ensure safe and convenient delivery, so each component of the kit must be optimised to ensure it can fit inside without compromising on usability and success rate. Typically, a testing or sampling kit will come with three-to-five safety lancets to ensure users can obtain the right blood sample volume to conduct analysis. Compact safety lancet designs not only fit easily into smaller packaging but can also be provided in larger quantities without compromising on space. 

Home-testing kits have emerged as a vital solution to address the extensive waiting times for appointments with the NHS. These kits empower individuals to take control of their health, detect diseases early, and manage chronic conditions more effectively. Moreover, they help reduce the strain on healthcare services, allowing the NHS to allocate resources more efficiently. For medical device manufacturers, this boom reinforces the need for safe, simple lancet devices that make home testing accessible and accurate, ultimately supporting the migration of diagnostic testing from the clinical environment to the home.