By Graham Watson

WITH the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions and the Covid tide beginning to turn, a tentative return to the office is becoming a very real prospect for working Scots this summer.

Yet, the notion of "the office" has undoubtedly become a complex one since the first lockdown a whole year ago.

Indeed, many have enjoyed the benefits of that enforced shift to a domestic setting – from a better work-life balance, to less fuel costs, and cutting out unnecessary commuting time.

On the flipside of course, negative work-related issues have also accrued over the past year, including heightened mental health concerns, at times lowered productivity, and wider communication and coordination challenges.

Paradoxically, there are those who now fear a return to the office as much as they once feared the challenges of working from home.

Employers will no doubt struggle to please a workforce that now falls into three broad camps – those who cannot wait to return to the office, another who would happily work from home forever, and a third who favour a hybrid model.

A consensus of sorts has thus emerged as we look to a significantly different working future – of adopting flexible arrangements that encompass time spent in both the office and the home – with an onus on employers to of course provide as safe a working environment as possible and to foster strong teamwork and collaboration, regardless of where individual employees are based.

Simultaneously, the office is expected to gradually transition to a more fluid space – a place more suited to collaborative activities than a typical daily nine to five working pattern. This would be in tandem with a keen ongoing focus on mental wellbeing.

A reasonable timescale then for a phased approach could be testing hybrid models in the autumn, allowing arrangements to evolve naturally, followed by new ways of working being formalised in the new year.

Underpinning this will necessarily be assurances on staff safety. While the vaccination programme has evidently been effective, a further building block in meaningfully bolstering public confidence remains quick and accurate testing for antibodies that detect an immune response.

Lateral Flow Devices (LFDs) – clinically-validated tests that do not require a laboratory for processing – have obvious applications for a phased and safe return to office life.

At Scottish Health Innovations, we have collaborated on the Coronex lateral flow antibody test which brings together expertise from across NHS Scotland and the biotech sector. It has been demonstrated to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with high accuracy and can be adapted rapidly to detect antibodies to new mutations, offering an inexpensive and efficient solution in a community, workplace, or home setting.

As society attempts to now move more stridently out of lockdown, the continued use of reliable antibody tests represents a significant stepping stone to restoring freedom of movement and increased civic confidence, in tandem with wider testing and vaccination efforts.

Now, perhaps more than ever as the tentative prospect of office working beckons once more, we need to get simple, reliable antibody testing into the hands of all.

Graham Watson is executive chairman of Scottish Health Innovations Ltd