IET expert comment on technical issue with Track and Trace data spreadsheet
Published: Tue 6 Oct 2020
Published: Tue 6 Oct 2020
"It's disappointing to read that a lack of awareness around the limitations of a consumer software product may have led to such a negative impact for all those who are relying on the Covid testing programme.
“It's widely known within medical device development that the use of commercial off-the-shelf products, such as Excel, requires additional testing to ensure that they are able to meet the stringent requirements of use in a healthcare setting. In particular, regulatory authorities such as the FDA in the United States have called out the limitations of Excel when applied to storing and manipulating medical data and furthermore have issued guidance on validation and risk management for these products if they are to be used in such a safety-critical manner.”