Collinson has achieved its ISO standards 15189 and 22870 for COVID-19 travel testing, receiving accreditation from the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). Collinson (UKAS ref: 22211) is one of only a few end-to-end point of care testing providers to receive these accreditations, meaning consumers can be assured its processes are of the highest possible quality in the country.
The grant of accreditation is the culmination of over 12 months of intensive work by the clinical, quality and management teams at Collinson. The rigorous standards required by UKAS – a prerequisite of UK Government for all private providers to have completed by September 2021 – were reviewed and passed as part of a comprehensive assessment process. Key areas of the customer journey were reviewed including ensuring all necessary consents, data protection, quality management process and customer care elements were met. Additionally, all clinical testing and reporting processes at each site were scrutinised by inspectors in person to ensure tests kits, swabbing techniques, infrastructure, chain of custody for sample integrity and customer reporting all met the necessary standards. Where samples were not processed on-site, the transportation processes and managed relationships with external laboratory partners were also examined.
This new accreditation accompanies Collinson’s ongoing presence on the UK Government’s list of providers for all types of travel testing. Collinson has now delivered over 862 000 tests for travel in the UK alone across its fifteen UK testing centres at major airports and central London locations.
Supporting the travel industry and getting the travel industry moving again is in our company DNA. COVID-19 testing has played an important part in this, and with British travel continuing to re-open, this accreditation gives us the continued confidence that our processes are of the highest, most rigorous standards, reassuring the British public that whether they are travelling for business or to see loved ones again, they can rely on us.
UKAS has interpreted the two standards to focus on different aspects of delivering a high quality private Covid-19 testing service. The ISO 15189 examines general aspects of the testing process such as overall quality management systems, staff training and core competency checks, through to how samples are collected from patients, interpreting PCR lab results and turnaround times. ISO 22870 addresses processes more involved with rapid care testing at our clinics.
Collinson offers pre-departure and post-arrival tests at its testing centres near Heathrow and Gatwick, at London’s O2 Arena, and Manchester Airport and Stansted Airport. To book a test for your next trip, visit collinsontest.com.
