(Source: BBC News)
A number of NHS trusts stood down in-house coronavirus testing for staff in the summer, ahead of a surge in virus cases, a health leaders' body says.
This followed assurances from government about the capacity of the centralised system, it is understood. But it left some staff, including in virus hotspots, unable to access testing when the national system came under strain earlier in the autumn.
The government has since said it has increased testing capacity.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is also extending regular testing to some NHS staff without symptoms.
At the start of the pandemic, "a lot of trusts pulled together their own [makeshift] testing schemes because they really needed to test staff", said Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, the body which represents health trust leaders in England.
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