Royal Preston Hospital one of four to work on new coronavirus antibody tests

Inside the lab at Royal Preston Hospital Pic: Lancashire Teaching Hospitals

Royal Preston Hospital has been chosen as one of four hospitals in the UK to work on new Covid-19 antibody tests.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust say they will start testing for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in their pathology department.

Tests undertaken via swabs will tell the team whether or not a person has had the disease and give them an understanding of how many of the population have actually been infected.

The lab will then form part of the nationwide track and trace initiative using the Roche Covid-19 antibody test.

Consultant clinical biochemist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, Dr Martin Meyers, said: “I am delighted that the Clinical Biochemistry department has been chosen to be in phase one for antibody testing in England. Our advanced automation will allow us to perform thousands of tests a day.

“The team work between the Clinical Biochemists and Microbiologists will have a major impact in our fight against this wretched disease and once we have carried out some quality checks, it is hoped that we will start to prove the service within 2 weeks.

“I would like to thank the excellent highly skilled scientists and clinicians at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals whose reputation has helped in us being chosen to deliver this service.”

Clinical director of pathology and consultant microbiologist, Dr David Orr, said: “This news is most welcome and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals is now at the forefront of measuring both the active disease using the PCR swab test and the antibody test. Having both of these tests available will help us in our fight to beat COVID-19.”