Private pathology workload doubles amid drastic change to testing process

A major change to the way Covid-19 tests are being processed is causing severely understaffed clinics to fall further behind as testing numbers – and queues – explode.

A change in the way Covid-19 PCR tests have to be processed is causing understaffed clinics to fall further behind as testing numbers – and queues – explode.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath revealed on Wednesday test site staffing plus a “shift in the way” private clinics tested samples had reduced testing capacity by half.

It was blowing out times people would wait for results.

Broadbeach restaurateur Steven Adams of Moo Moo blamed test result delays for having to shut recently costing “fortunes”.

Huge queues snake around the block from Gold Coast University Hospital’s Covid testing clinic. Picture: Glenn Hampson

QML Pathology – among private clinics hit by staff shortages – has reopened six southeast sites, including Bundall. It will open 8am to 11am Thursday.

Eight of its drive-through clinics were closed across the state on Wednesday as more health workers go into isolation.

It comes as queues at Gold Coast testing sites stretch for kilometres, with many turned away or forced to wait at least nine hours amid snap closures.

Arundel mum Jacqueline said her family had left home before 5am to try and find an open testing clinic on Wednesday.

“The line at Mudgeeraba, Robina and Robina precinct was over 3km long. The roads were too dangerous to wait even though we were prepared to wait all day and even put our bigger kids in nappies as toilets not available.

“We then went to eight supermarkets, and six service stations, plus called another 20. We have a family celebration coming up and trying to be responsible for elderly family.”

Jacqueline said her children “can’t see a doctor” until they’ve been tested.

“Our kids have had sore throats, fever, diarrhoea and headaches and aching legs for four days,” she said.

“We are meant to return to work in a school on Monday and we’re worried about infecting all the teachers in our school.

“At the least for safety reasons you need to have police manning the lines at testing centres as it was too unsafe for us to wait on the side of the road.”

Ms D’Ath, addressing queues and test result waits, said she met private pathology services on Tuesday and workers at private labs were no longer able to bulk test a batch of swabs.

“(Previously) they’ve been able to test whole batches to see if anything tests positive in that batch,” she said.

Long queues await for those looking to get a PCR test. Picture Glenn Hampson

“If there is a positive then they would individually test. That works very well when you know the majority of people coming forward will test negative … but now we have such a large number of positive cases come forward, the private pathologists are having to shift to doing individual tests.”

Ms D’Ath said this had doubled workload at private clinics.

“We’ll continue to work with private pathologists and the Commonwealth to try to get these clinics open far quicker and for longer hours,” she said.

“I do appreciate the pressures on the private system as well as the public health system.”

‘Dangerous’ queues outside testing clinics

January 5, 2021

A Gold Coast family has revealed a desperate attempt to be tested with multiple sick children in the car as lines outside the city’s testing clinics stretch back kilometres.

Arundel mum Jacqueline, who asked the Bulletin not to share her surname, said her family had left home before 5am to try and find an open testing clinic.

She said: “The line at Mudgeeraba, Robina and Robina precinct was over 3kms long.

“The roads were too dangerous to wait even though we were prepared to wait all day and even put our bigger kids in nappies as toilets not avail.

“We then went to eight supermarkets, and six service stations, plus called another 20. We have a family celebration coming up and trying to be responsible for elderly family.”

QML Pathology, operating drive-through clinics in Southport and Robina, has already been forced to close eight sites across the state as more health workers go into isolation.

Jacqueline told the Bulletin her children “can’t see a doctor” until they’ve been tested for the virus.

Our kids have had sore throats, fever, diarrhoea and headaches and aching legs for four days,” she said.

“We are meant to return to work in a school on Monday and we’re worried about infecting all the teachers in our school.

“At the least for safety reasons you need to have police manning the lines at testing centres as it was too unsafe for us to wait on the side of the road.”

Road rage, residents blocked at ‘bloody mental’ testing line

Southport residents are demanding urgent action to address long lines at a Covid-19 testing clinic causing road rage and blocking residents from leaving their homes.

The QML Pathology drive-through site near Smith Street has caused traffic chaos for residents of the nearby Smith Collective complex for the past several days.

Tensions reached fever pitch on Wednesday morning as the line of cars snaked through one-way streets in the complex.

Smith Collective resident Craig Vermay said the chaos started Tuesday morning when he was blocked from leaving his house due to banked up cars.

“It took nearly two hours to get to the corner at the traffic lights. It’s just bloody mental,” he said.

“I woke up this morning at 6am and I looked out my front door and the road was completely blocked again.”

He said the situation was out of control.

“Outside my house there are lots of people screaming at one another and people driving down the footpath to get out,” Mr Vermay said.

“The Covid testing people are blocking the one-way road system within Smith Collective and everyone’s going mad.”

Mr Vermay said more traffic management was urgently needed.

“Most of these people here now won’t get tested. They need to have someone at the back of the queue counting the cars,” he said.

Rebecca Tima, who works in Smith Collective, said her usual five minute commute took 30 minutes on Wednesday.

“At 5.15am it was terrible,” Ms Tima said, “This is probably the worst day I’ve seen.

“The last couple of days they’ve had the police here.”

Smith Collective general manager Matt Taplin said it was not responsible for managing the traffic as the testing station “is not on our land”.

“We have been trying to get police to assist with clearing the roads – we want to make sure our residents can come and go and more importantly, emergency services have free access if they need it,” Mr Taplin said.

The Bulletin has contacted QML Pathology for comment.

Follow @Melwhiting