This event is being delivered in partnership with bioMérieux.
Exponential growth in Point of Care Testing (POCT) requires engaged leadership from senior pathology scientists to ensure only high quality results are produced and used to direct patient management. In her talk Katy Heaney will reflect on the challenges of providing a high quality POCT service in the community and using technology to respond to errors, troubleshoot and remotely monitor the use of a service.
Adoption of POCT requires working across the whole healthcare system. Mandy Townsend will reflect on the challenges of working across systems on new community pathways, the lessons learned in the North West and the importance of real-world evidence to support the changes required for successful implementation.
This event will be chaired by Professor Angharad Davies, RCPath Clinical Director for Publishing and Engagement. A Q&A will follow the talks.
This event will take place at 12:30pm and last approximately 1 hour.
Our speakers and chair
Katy Heaney
Katy has been working in the NHS and its services for 20 years in Clinical Biochemistry and Point of Care Testing (POCT). Katy is the Consultant Specialty lead for POCT for Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services, covering 5 NHS Trusts, with 6 acute medical sites and multiple community services. The service is the only multi-Trust UKAS accredited POCT service in the UK under ISO 15189:2022 and was awarded Outstanding Healthcare Science Service of the year by NHS England’s Chief Scientific Officer at the Advancing Healthcare Awards in 2025.
Katy is the Clinical Director for Qpoint, a dedicated ISO accredited POCT External Quality assessment scheme. Qpoint has over 10,000 participants across 7 schemes and produces samples for POCT devices to test across the UK to monitor the quality of results produced for patients. Katy chairs the southeast region NHS England Point of care group and has been a key contributor to NHS England POCT guidance for virtual wards and hospital at home services. During the pandemic Katy was seconded to the Department of Health and Social Care, then later UKHSA, Operational Supplies team as the Point of care workflow programme lead, with the primary aim of providing technical and scientific leadership in the deployment of rapid covid testing into NHS Emergency departments. In 2024-25 Katy was seconded to Chief Healthcare Scientist for Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust with responsibility for executive representation of Healthcare science services at the Trust and the Integrated Care System.
Katy is considered a leading expert in Point of care testing in the UK; influencing policy, research and development and healthcare strategy. Katy is focused on producing the highest quality patient outcomes using well governed POCT in a cost effective and clinically appropriate process.
Mandy Townsend
Mandy is a Biomedical Scientist (HCPC) and started as a Junior B, rotating around all departments before specialising in biochemistry. She worked in pathology before moving into improvement and innovation work in 1999. Between 2017 and 2020, Mandy was North-West Coast Patient Safety co-lead, and Maternity and Neonatal Quality Improvement Programme lead regionally, and nationally. In 2020 she was seconded to the National Testing Cell and DHSC, working in the Operational Supplies team as Deputy Director to build testing capacity and deploy a number of new technologies at pace.
Currently, Mandy leads programmes to deliver improvements in patient care through the spread of innovations, both technologies and processes. She provides leadership for their Biosciences, Medicines, Mental Health, and Diagnostics work.
Her role crosses the full range of healthcare systems from primary and community via emergency, to acute, mental health and tertiary services. She focuses on Complex Change and pathway transformation, using implementation and adoption sciences to create sustainable change. Implementation and adoption sciences help us to understand how best to implement new innovation in a clinical pathway reliably, safely and to maximum impact. Their work includes real-world evaluation to develop evidence for rapid adoption and spread. HINs work across the National Innovation Pipeline to Find, Test, and Implement innovation, to create local change with national impact
Mandy is a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science, MSc FIBMS MIHM MSP Aff:ICSA.
Professor Angharad Davies
Professor Angharad Davies is a clinical academic and honorary consultant medical microbiologist at Swansea University Medical School. She undertook her medical undergraduate training at St John's College, Cambridge and specialty training at the Royal Free Hospital, London. She is RCPath's Clinical Director for Publishing and Engagement.
