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Doctors have criticized the coronavirus testing system as “a total disaster” after it emerged that some have been told to take round trips of up to 522 miles to get swabs.
Hospital doctors and GPs have described how delays of up to four days to get a test and five days to receive the result force them to isolate themselves and mean they cannot work normally on the NHS.
A case file being compiled by the UK Medical Association reveals how a GP in Margate in Kent who was showing symptoms was told to travel 266 miles to Leeds in West Yorkshire for a test.
In another case, a doctor at a hospital in Basildon, Essex, had to make a 500-mile round trip to Glenfield Hospital in Leicester. When the NHS department of occupational health that he trusted was unable to provide a test, they advised him to use the test and trace website.
“I had to try for 36 hours to get a space and then that involved a 250-mile trip, for which my partner had to take a day off to do.
“Then I had to isolate myself while waiting for a result, which took five days, during which my colleagues had to cover for me. A total disaster, ”he said.
A GP in Brighton and his partner, who is a doctor at a hospital, had to be isolated for eight days as he was unable to take a test locally for four days, despite checking availability several times a day.
“Once I finally went for the test, it took me four more days to get the result. My whole family was isolated during this period; that’s a family doctor and a hospital doctor who cannot see patients while they wait for tests and results, ”he said.
The revelation that doctors are facing problems getting tested comes amid growing concern among MPs from all parties that the system in England is experiencing major problems. Keir Starmer, the Labor leader, warned last week that the test-and-trace system is “on the verge of collapse.” Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has defended his performance and blamed the problems on too many people without coronavirus symptoms seeking a test.
Sarah-Jane Marsh, the head of the hospital who is the director of testing for NHS Test and Trace, offered a “heartfelt” apology for people being sent long distances from their homes. “Our laboratory processing is the critical tightening point. We are doing our best to expand rapidly, ”he said.
Family physicians are at a disadvantage when seeking tests because, unlike hospitals, GPs do not have occupational departments that can organize a test for them. A GP in Gloucester had to isolate herself for six days before she could give her son a test. Another family doctor, who was told to go to a testing center 120 miles away, said: “I had to update the website about 10 times over 12 hours to get a test near me. A less diligent citizen would have given up. ”A third GP, in Colchester in Essex, had to isolate himself for two more days while he waited for space to become available at his local test site after initially being told to drive 110 miles to Ramsgate in Kent.
Dr Rinesh Parmar, DAUK President, said: “The current arrangements for testing for Covid-19 are a total disaster. We have key workers, like GPs and hospital doctors, who cannot access testing, have to isolate themselves, and ultimately not see patients.
“With an already reduced NHS workforce and 8,274 doctor vacancies in England alone before the pandemic, we cannot afford to isolate doctors on their own due to a lack of available evidence.”
NHS staff should have priority access to testing, Parmar added. Hancock opened up the possibility of introducing a ranking system last week when she said Conservative MP Laura Farris’s proposal that working parents and teachers deserve priority was “a good point.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Welfare said that NHS staff already had priority for testing. “The NHS test and trace is working and our capacity is the highest it has ever been. But we’re seeing significant demand for testing, even from people who don’t have symptoms and aren’t otherwise eligible.
“We have always sought to prioritize our NHS health and care workers, who are eligible for testing, whether symptomatic or not, and new reserve spaces and home testing kits are made available every day. for those who need them.
“Our labs process over a million tests a week and we recently announced new facilities and technology to process results even faster.”
Responding to the DAUK’s evidence, Jon Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said: “Throughout this crisis, the failure of ministers to adequately protect front-line NHS personnel has been one of the most common mistakes. unforgivable. Leaving hospital GPs and GPs exposed and scrambling to get tested is another staggering failure. The testing fiasco needs to be addressed urgently and ministers need a credible plan to implement regular routine testing of all frontline NHS personnel to give them the protection they deserve. “
Munira Wilson, health spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said: “It is clear that the test and trace system in the UK is on its knees. It is incomprehensible that medical professionals, whom we all trust, find that they cannot access vital tests.
“Recent reports of reduced testability and obvious flaws in our tracking system are absolutely inexcusable. The government’s claim to have created a ‘world’ system seems more and more ridiculous as people see what is happening on the ground. “
