Doctor accuses health department of curb on swine flu swabs

A DOCTOR has accused the Department of Health of restricting the availability of special swabs to test patients for swine flu.

Dr Willie Christopher, a GP in Mallow, Co Cork, said he was only given eight swabs and had to do battle with the health authority to get more.

The department’s chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, had claimed that laboratory facilities were coming under pressure as a result of demands from patients that their GPs carry out a blood test to confirm they have the flu.

He stressed that this was not necessary even for people with underlying illnesses. There was also no need for a person to be automatically given anti-viral treatment if the GP did not think it appropriate.

Dr Christopher argued that he should be able to test patients for the virus, if he believed there were clinical grounds for doing so.

The doctor also believed he had contracted swine flu but was unable to conduct a confirmatory test because he did not have any swabs.

Initially, Dr Christopher was given 200 gowns and 200 masks, but only three swabs. After complaining to the Health Service Executive, he only got five more.

Dr Christopher said he eventually got an extra 100 swabs but only after he made several complaints.

“This embargo is nationwide. Doctors are being told to only treat patients on clinical grounds,” he claimed.

He also questioned the wisdom of non-clinical people putting an embargo on clinical people as to when they should use clinical acumen to swab patients.

Dr Christopher said he would certainly test patients that he knew to be on an immunosuppressant or those who were elderly or frail.

“I will use my clinical judgment in each individual case in deciding who to swab,” Dr Christopher said.

He said he needed to test patients for the virus so he knew exactly what he was dealing with.

He also wanted to identify patients who had the virus as time went on.

“I have had patients who just had a cold; they did not have a high temperature. They were better in three days but they tested positive for swine flu,” he said.