Surge Capacity for FFP3 Fit Testing

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is looking to understand current fit-testing capacity across the UK and how this could be increased quickly in a pandemic. This work will help DHSC to develop a fit-testing surge plan and put in place practical delivery models that can be used during a pandemic, as part of wider pandemic preparedness planning.

Background

To support HMG’s Pandemic Preparedness Strategy [1] and reflect recommendations published in the COVID-19 Inquiry module 3 report [2], DHSC is conducting market engagement to better understand the capacity for fit testing. This will consider capacity during business as usual and a pandemic, recognising that during a pandemic demand for fit testing for filtering facepiece class 3 (FFP3) respirators across health and adult social care could increase rapidly. This would result in a significant volume of staff requiring fit testing quickly in the early stages of a pandemic. Without a surge plan, there’s a risk of delays in enabling frontline staff to safely use FFP3s, which is a key risk to health and social care pandemic resilience.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pandemic-preparedness-strategy-building-our-capabilities

[2] https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/documents/module-3-full-report/

Who we want to hear from

We are seeking input from:

• fit testers and/or organisations providing fit testing

• fit-testing trainers and/or organisations providing fit testing training

DHSC recognises that organisations may not have previously surged fit testing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How to take part

Please complete this Microsoft Forms survey:

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=MIwnYaiRMUyMH-9N6Jc6HD5FeWMrqfNMlI-J0y-poM1UOTFJT0pEWlNEVDZPUlhWVDRORVM5MVdZOC4u

The deadline is Tuesday 23rd June 2026, at 11:59pm, and the survey is likely to take less than 20 minutes if you have the information readily available.