The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in our lifetime. Governments and services involved in the COVID-19 response have faced numerous challenges in testing and managing infections from the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
This Perspectives Brief examines the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria from the lens of government owned and operated public pathology services.
Public pathology has been responsive to the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this response was reactive and exposed gaps in coordination and capacity that needed to be filled by the private sector – at significant financial cost and leading to fragmentation of Victoria’s response.
Faster engagement, capacity building, resourcing, and utilisation of the public pathology sector in Victoria would have been beneficial during COVID-19. There must be ongoing investment in public pathology services to maintain pandemic preparedness for any subsequent public health crises.