Community testing - programme implementation: health board leads' experiences

Introduction

Over the course of the pandemic, testing has represented a key tool in detecting cases, reducing transmission and containing the spread of Covid-19. At the end of 2020, with a growing body of evidence suggesting that around 1 in 3 people with the virus did not have symptoms, Scotland's approach to testing expanded to include testing of pre- and a-symptomatic cases, as well as symptomatic cases.

In January 2021, as part of its overall Testing Strategy, the Scottish Government implemented the Community Testing Programme in collaboration with the NHS Boards, Local Authorities and Public Health Scotland (PHS). The Programme aimed to detect cases both in areas with high or spiking Covid-19 rates, and in communities at higher risk of contracting Covid or with limited or no access to other asymptomatic testing routes (e.g. those available in health care or educational settings).

Monitoring and evaluation work on Community Testing has been conducted by the Scottish Government in order to inform its ongoing development (Coronavirus (COVID-19) targeted community testing: national evaluation evidence and insights. See also Coronavirus (COVID-19) asymptomatic testing programme: evaluation - November 2020 to June 2021). This qualitative study builds on that work to provide further insights into Health Board leads' experiences of the Programme, with a focus on good practice examples, challenges and lessons learned, views on the barriers to Community Testing encountered by their local populations and strategies adopted to overcome those barriers.