Coronavirus: hotline swamped, patients confused

Private labs have been recruited to help with testing as a national hotline is overwhelmed with calls.

People are seen wearing face masks in Sydney on Monday. Picture: AAP

Private laboratories have been called in to expand the nation’s coronavirus testing capacity as a special national hotline has been overwhelmed by calls seeking ­advice, and confusion within the health system has led to patients seeking tests being given conflicting information.

With the number of confirmed cases of infections in Australia reaching 94 on Monday, people seeking tests reported difficulty in gaining a clear answer about where they should go for screening and what symptoms justified immediate action. Others said they received conflicting advice.

Patients seeking tests in Sydney were on Monday referred from GPs clinics to pathology laboratories that were not conducting the tests and then given further incorrect information about where a test could be obtained. They were also given incorrect information on waiting periods to obtain tests or whether a test was necessary.

With pressure growing on federal and state government strategies to contain the virus, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy advised general practitioners of plans to expand testing capabilities for COVID-19.

Private labs are being allowed to join the testing efforts of centralised government medical pathology centres in all states, and more resources will be devoted to the race for a blood test that can detect coronavirus antibodies — a more reliable alternative to throat and nasal swab testing.

Professor Murphy, in a letter to GPs, acknowledged it had been “challenging” for doctors to keep up with sometimes conflicting public health messages issued by various health departments.

He said testing for COVID-19 infection was currently focused on people with respiratory symptoms who had a relevant travel history or who had been in contact with cases. He said others in the community did not need testing.

“Testing has largely been done so far by public health laboratories, but I am pleased to advise that we are working on further expanding access under Medicare to private pathology laboratories for the SARS CoV-2 virus (which causes the COVID-19 disease),” Professor Murphy said. He also told GPs the COVID-19 national hotline would be expanded to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“As case numbers increase, there is a need for new strategies,” he said. “Expansion of the national hotline is part of our strategy to support general practices managing the flow of cases.”

NSW public hospitals will conduct more than 1000 tests on Tuesday and will move to expand their capacity for testing.

Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone said every GP was “now feeling particularly unsupported” and doctors felt they were not being given the help needed as the first port of call for people wanting virus tests, or fearing they might be infected.

“Without us, the system will not function in terms of keeping the pressure off the emergency department and public hospitals,” he said on the ABC.

West Australian Health Minister Roger Cook said his state had a shortage of health professionals to cope, and three extra testing facilities would be opened because of the influx of people coming forward wanting tests. The state would consider opening idle wards in hospitals as it readied for the spread of coronavirus, but a shortage of doctors and nurses could impede the response.

Former AMA president Kerryn Phelps says medical practitioners should be fast-tracked for coronavirus testing, after one GP was told on Monday she would have to wait five days after having developed cold symptoms.

Professor Phelps, a GP and former independent MP, said it was unacceptable that healthcare workers should have to wait. “We have to be able to keep healthcare workers at the frontline to look after patients,” she told Nine.

Health experts told The Australian on Monday the government was right to ration testing for the virus to cases of legitimate concern at this stage.

Raina MacIntyre, head of biosecurity at the University of NSW’s Kirby Institute Lab, said testing was likely to improve as the capability of labs improved and blood testing for virus antibodies replaced less reliable swab tests.

Professor MacIntyre said ration­ing was important in the meantime because a limited number of test kits were available and it was valid to avoid unnecessary testing of the “worried well” in the early stages of what could become a pandemic.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: PAUL GARVEY