General practitioners have accused the federal government of robbing them of crucial pandemic resources ahead of the peak of a fresh coronavirus wave, warning that vulnerable people are already slipping through the cracks | MeljCunningham marywardy
A positive rapid or PCR test is required to access antiviral medicine.
“We’re creating a huge barrier to the most vulnerable populations for diagnosing and treating COVID, which flies in the face of the policy of diagnose early and treat early,” she said. “Many vulnerable people do not have the means to quickly go out and get a PCR test, and if we don’t find those people, the virus is going to spread ever more rapidly.”
General practitioner Simon Benson, who runs a major respiratory clinic in Footscray, in Melbourne’s west, said, “now is not the time to be messing around with important health assets”. “They were running on average at $24 or $25 per test if you could get them in January, they’re now down around about $8 a test,” he said.
“We’re basically creating a two-tiered system that says people who are affluent enough to have reliable devices and internet can have longer and more quality care,” Munoz said. “Those that don’t simply go without.”Butler met with Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Karen Price and Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid on Friday to discuss the pressures on doctors.
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