Community Testing Programme

The Council is required to set up mass Lateral Flow Testing (LFT) arrangements as part of the Governments pandemic response. The focus of the community testing is on key staff groups and the wider public to help identify people who were asymptomatic positive cases in order to break the chain of transmission. The Council therefore needs to undertake the urgent procurement off goods and services to set up the testing programme to ensure DHSC requirements are met. REM will be responsible for setting up the sites, procuring the materials (other than the test kits that are provided by the DHSC), sourcing the staff, undertaking training, carrying out the tests and working alongside the authority to help promote and evaluate the work. The aim is to have a first site up and running week commencing 1st March 2021, with two further sites to follow from 10th March 2021. This is subject to regular review. The model will be flexible. The current proposal is for a 3-site model across B&NES, but additional locations will be provided based on demand.