Doctors need to be able to recommend a COVID-19 test if they believe a patient's circumstances warrant it, Launceston GP Andrew Jackson says.
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Dr Jackson said that the present system where a patient rang a 1800 number and was approved or rejected for a test was not sufficiently flexible for special cases.
He said three recent cases in which patients were knocked back for a test by 1800 line staff highlighted a need for GP's to be able to order a test.
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He said in one case a health care worker with a respiratory infection and a past history of pneumonia had been
recommended by 1800 staff to go into 14 days isolation.
However, she had not been
able to access a test because 1800 staff did not approve it.
"This worker in the aged care sector is urgently required by the employer but has been told to go into 14 days of isolation when it was very likely not to be necessary," Dr Jackson said.
"GP's need ready access for select cases to the test so that they can sort out who has the COVID-19 virus and who does not.
"GP's are being hamstrung by the present system."
Coronavirus: All the latest updates on COVID-19 for Tasmania
A spokesman for Health Minister Sarah Courtney said the state Government was sticking with national guidelines on testing.
"That is people who are ill, people who have returned from overseas or people who have been in contact with someone who is ill," the spokesman said.
Dr Jackson said that the public sector seemed not to trust GP's to use COVID-19 testing in a prudent manner.
"There should be a process where GP's can order a test in individual cases without having to call the 1800 number and the associated delays," he said.
"GP's know their patients very well and will have knowledge that cannot be gleaned in an 1800 phone call."
Dr Jackson said experience from around the world showed that the more tests carried out the better.
"Governments not GP's have to solve the test kit supply problem," he said.
About 800 tests have been carried out in Tasmania with 10 people testing positive to COVID-19.