The mum of a Salisbury boy with learning difficulties has welcomed changes to the Covid-19 testing system, after her son was sent home from school due to a false lateral flow test.
Cullyn Thompson, 12, tested positive on Monday, March 22 during twice-weekly testing at Silverwood School, a school for children with special needs in Devizes.
A confirmatory PCR test later came back negative but as the original lateral flow test was taken in school, that result couldn’t be overruled.
Sixteen pupils and three members of staff are self-isolating as a result.
Read more: False lateral flow test keeps Salisbury child out of school
Silverwood School and the public health team at Wiltshire Council say they had been following Government guidance.
The Department for Health and Social Care had defended the policy but has now made a U-turn, ruling that all LFD tests that come back positive, regardless of where they are taken, will now be followed up by a more accurate PCR test.
Cullyn’s mum Julie Elliott, 48, who lives in Bemerton Heath, said the decision won’t affect her and her son this time round, but it will in the long-term.
“It’s a huge relief,” she said.
“At least I know that if anyone else gets it, they will be checked with a PCR, I’m really really chuffed about it.”
After being informed that her son had tested positive, the single mum claims to have received a notification from the NHS asking her to confirm the test result.
At the time, because the test had been taken in school, the result of the lateral flow was taken as the correct result – even if the PCR was negative.
The controversial Government policy had already come under fire when The Stonehenge School in Amesbury sent home more than 400 pupils after four cases were picked up by rapid testing.
While children in mainstream schools are now carrying out tests in their own homes, which means they can request a confirmatory PCR test, special needs schools are being advised to continue in-school testing.
Kate Blackburn, Director of Public Health for Wiltshire, said she was “pleased” about the Government’s U-turn.
She said: “For the majority of our schools, that’s not going to impact [them] because the majority of children are taking [tests] at home but certainly for our special needs schools, the testing was happening on site so they will now require a confirmatory PCR which is something we’re pleased about.”
Mrs Blackburn said that the policy was changed in January when rates of infections within the community were very high.
“As the prevalence of the disease falls, you’re more likely to pick up either false positives or false negatives.”
The need to identify possible variants of the virus, which can only be detected by PCR tests, is also a reason behind the move, Mrs Blackburn said.
The Department for Health and Social Care said lateral flow tests have been through “extensive” clinical evaluation and are “accurate and sensitive enough to be used by individuals in the community”.
The department also pointed to research from NHS Test and Trace showing that for every 1,000 lateral flow tests, there is less than one false positive.
Get more Salisbury news and nominate your local heroes for the South Wiltshire Hero Awards.
You can also like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date.
If you want online news with fewer ads, unlimited access and reader rewards - plus a chance to support our local journalism - find out more about registering or a digital subscription.
Email newsdesk@salisburyjournal.co.uk with your comments, pictures, letters and news stories.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel