The medical director of one of the biggest out-of-hours GP services in the State has said the whole system of trying to book a PCR test has “gone down”.

Dr Gary Stack of SouthDoc, which covers Cork and Kerry, said the service has referred 7,142 patients since Christmas Eve for a PCR test.

SouthDoc has 23 out-of-hours services in the two counties.

Hospital Report

“I haven’t met any patient who has been online and been able to get an appointment since the start of Christmas,” he said.

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Dr Stack said people who were looking for PCR tests were not even getting texts back with appointments from the HSE until 72 hours after reporting symptoms to SouthDoc.

“Many patients are ringing in and saying that we never sent them for appointments,” he said. “As far as I know, the PCR system is maxed out . . . the system can’t cope. It’s about three days behind. So it all ends up back in general practice. We have patients telling us, ‘Why can’t we get through? Why can’t we get a text?’”

Dr Stack said he believes the Covid-19 figures are higher than the ones reported daily by the Health Surveillance Protection Centre as he estimates that approximately half of the people who cannot get tests at the moment are positive.

HSE chief executive Paul Reid in recent days acknowledged the testing system was under pressure as the virus was “running rife”.

A spokeswoman for the HSE said on Monday night the demand for PCR testing “remains very high”, despite recent changes to the eligibility of those aged under 39.

“Clinical referrals including GP and close contact referrals continue to be prioritised even with high demand. Some areas are still trying to clear any referrals outstanding and most are progressing through these,” she said.

“While there are some additional measures to increase PCR capacity, it is close to maximum at 300,000 tests per week which combined with 350,000 antigen tests provides a total capacity of 650,000 tests per week.”

‘Biggest concern’

Dr Mel Bates, the medical director of D-Doc, which covers north Dublin, said it has been difficult to maintain a service for PCR tests while at the same time seeing people who are sick with non-Covid-19-related illnesses.

He said the PCR testing service “basically shut down – tests were extremely limited” over the Christmas period. “It fell back on to out-of-hours.”

He said he has lost count of the number of people being referred for PCR tests “but it is in the hundreds every day. Our biggest concern is being able to see sick people face-to-face,” he said.

He anticipated that pressure on out-of-hours services will ease when the GP surgeries open on Tuesday.

“You are going to have 250 GPs and practice nurses open in north Dublin. It should make it easier,” he said.

The Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP ) said GPs have been asked by the HSE to prioritise the vaccination of patients over 16, accelerating the delivery of booster vaccines as the Omicron variant continues to spread. “At the same time, routine work such as insurance medicals or surveillance bloods, and planned reviews will be deferred,” it said.

ICGP medical director Dr Diarmuid Quinlan said: “Omicron is spreading rapidly, with increasing numbers of people affected. Considering this Omicron surge, general practice must now prioritise assessing and referring people with possible Covid-19 and Covid-19 booster vaccination.

‘Please self-isolate’

“General practice remains open and available to patients with acute illness. However, many GP practices now have staff working remotely due to Omicron. While face-to-face consultations were the norm, good care can be delivered remotely. We understand that some people will be frustrated at their inability to contact their GP as readily as heretofore.”

The ICGP’s clinical lead on Covid-19, Dr Nuala O’Connor, said there is a delay in accessing PCR tests due to the huge Covid-19 case numbers, “but your action starts when you develop symptoms. Please self-isolate to stop spreading whatever infection you have.”

She added: “The type of Covid-19 test (PCR/antigen) you should use initially has changed and depends on your age. If you are between four and 39 years of age, and have symptoms of Covid-19, you should book antigen tests, but do not book a PCR test unless you get a positive antigen test result. You can self-refer for antigen testing via the HSE website.

“We also urge everyone to reduce your contacts, observe social distancing, wear a mask, wash your hands and open windows to improve natural ventilation.”