Andrew Miller slams ‘heavy-handed’ rules on corona­virus tests

AMA (WA) president Andrew Miller says the tough state restrictions on testing and PPE make no sense.

Australian Medical Association (WA) president Andrew Miller.

The West Australian government has been urged to withdraw guidelines that threaten individual doctors with $20,000 fines if they carry out unauthorised corona­virus tests.

The WA branch of the Australian Medical Association has also called for authorities to back away from disciplining doctors and nurses who wear personal protective equipment over and above mandated requirements, saying medical professionals should be able to make their own assessments of their needs.

AMA (WA) president Andrew Miller said the tough restrictions on testing and PPE made no sense, given the state had secured ample supplies of both test kits and protective gear in recent weeks. “It’s an extremely heavy-handed bureaucratic approach, which is no longer justified,” Dr Miller said.

“Their original justification was a lack of resources, but that’s gone now so it’s a mystery as to why they are trying to keep control here.”

He said removing the restrictions on testing could allow for greater testing of people who wanted to visit relatives in nursing homes, which would have the effect both of reducing the risk of outbreaks in those facilities and providing useful data on the level of asymptomatic infection in the community.

The restrictions are also in contrast to testing carried out on fly-in, fly-out workers by mining companies in the state.

The WA branch of the AMA wrote to the state government last week about the two measures but was yet to receive a response.

Dr Miller said he was aware of at least one incident when a doctor was stood down for wearing a mask while doing their rounds.

“The nurses at the entrance of the big private hospitals, who are testing everyone as they come in, asked if they were allowed to wear surgical masks because they were unable to socially distance and, unlike a Woolworths employee, they were told, no, you can’t wear them, Dr Miller said.

“They see other countries where people are being fined for not wearing a mask, so it’s not good for their state of mind.”

Dr Miller was a vocal critic of the WA government’s early response to the crisis, calling for a sharp increase in testing and a closure of the state’s borders. The government eventually adopted the measures.