New Coronavirus Satellite Testing Centre For Cheshire

A new satellite testing centre is now open at Leighton Hospital for swab testing a wider group of key workers who are showing signs of Coronavirus and for those who are living in a household with others who have symptoms.

A number of Coronavirus testing facilities are being established across Cheshire and Merseyside to increase capacity for testing key workers but this satellite centre allows our Cheshire population to attend testing more locally to where they live.

Increasing our region’s testing capabilities will enable key workers who have been self-isolating because they, or members of their household, are symptomatic to continue to work, if they and/or other members of the household test negative.

When the key worker or their family member has their result, they will have a better understanding of their condition or situation and can discuss this with their employer to determine whether they can return to work – helping our country to beat coronavirus at the earliest opportunity.

There are Regional Testing Centre’s (RTCs) already in place at Haydock, Manchester Airport and Preston College.

The Satellite Testing Centre (STC) at Leighton Hospital, which is managed by Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, joins one of three in the region, with sites also at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool City Centre, both of which launched this week.

Denise Frodsham, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Mid Cheshire Hospitals, said:

“We are very pleased to be supporting COVID-19 testing for key workers across Cheshire by setting up and managing the new satellite testing centre at Leighton Hospital. This facility is going to play a crucial part in our region’s response to Coronavirus.”

Terry Whalley, Cheshire and Merseyside Testing Incident Director, added:

“I’m delighted that colleagues at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, working closely with colleagues at Cheshire CCG [Clinical Commissioning Group] have been able to set up this testing centre so quickly. Offering more convenient access to testing is very important to us all as we seek to tackle the threat of Coronavirus.”

Key workers and their families can access testing at one of the local Cheshire sites, by contacting cheshireccg.covid19@nhs.net