Daily Mail, Wednesday, March 4, 2020 QQQ Page 

By Sophie Borland

Health Editor

UK’s fate in your hands ... not just Her Majesty’s

Check that spots

illness instantly

‘locally manage their resi-

dents’, rather than referring

them to hospital.

They must also put ‘infec-

tion control measures’ in

place to ensure the virus

is not brought into care

homes by a member of staff

or visiting relatives.

An NHS spokesman last

night pointed out that it has

been on a Level 4 alert for at

least a month since cases

started escalating in China.

THE NHS is restricting coronavirus

testing and even turning away

patients who have suspicious symp-

toms, a senior GP has warned.

Dr Ali Joy said members of the public

who suspect they have the potentially

deadly disease were calling the NHS 111

helpline to try to arrange a test, only to

be told they did not need one.

The GP, who practises in Chelsea, west

London, said she was ‘concerned’ the

‘rigorous checklist’ being used by the

111 call centre staff to decide who gets

tested may be overly restrictive.

She said she had tried to arrange a

test for an 18-year-old with cold-like

symptoms who had just returned from

northern Italy – the worst-affected

country in Europe – and was told ‘cate-

gorically’ that he would not need one.

The NHS announced last week that it

would be rolling out home testing for

coronavirus in a bid to stop people going

to crowded A&E units and infecting

others around them. Individuals with

suspicious symptoms are told to call 111

111 callers

‘told they

don’t need

virus test’

✔

and an adviser will decide if they

need a test. If it is deemed neces-

sary, they will arrange for a nurse or

paramedic to visit their home.

But Dr Joy, pictured right, said in

Chelsea there were just three nurses

carrying out the tests for the whole

borough and they were allowed to

do a maximum of 36 a day.

She said: ‘Everybody in the medi-

cal community knows that NHS 111

doesn’t work for coronavirus testing

• it’s just simply not working.
  ‘They have this rigorous checklist
  where they have the dangerous
  countries and the symptoms. If you
  don’t fit absolutely into that box,
  they don’t even take your name. It’s
  almost impossible to get testing.’
  Referring to her experience of try-
  ing to arrange a test for the 18-year-
  old through NHS 111, she said: ‘This
  is a real issue. His mother had tried,
  her GP had tried, I tried, the school
  had tried. So four people had tried

and he was refused a test. He had

been through north Italy and he

had symptoms and he was refused a

test. NHS 111 don’t give you a rea-

son, they just say the symptoms

aren’t sufficient enough. I was told

categorically he doesn’t need testing.’

She said another patient with a

bad fever and a cough who had

just flown back from Johan-

nesburg in South Africa had

also been refused a test.

Although South Africa has

not yet reported any

cases, it has a large Chi-

nese population and

e x p e r t s b e l i e v e t h a t

some patients may have

the disease undetected.

Dr Joy also warned that

some hospitals did not

yet have coronavirus

isolation pods, which

are meant to enable

patients to be tested away from

crowded A&E units, including the

Royal Brompton and Harefield hos-

pitals in central London. And she

also believes that when someone

tests positive for the disease, the

NHS is not properly tracing all those

who may have come into con-

tact with the patient and

potentially been infected.

The NHS said it had

ploughed £1.7million

into the 111 service to

offer more corona-

virus advice over the

phone. A spokesman

added: ‘Guidance on

which patients are eligi-

ble for home testing is set

by experts at Public Health

E n g l a n d , a n d a l m o s t

14,000 people have been

tested for coronavirus

in the UK so far.’

A BREATH test that instantly

spots patients with coro-

navirus has been devel-

oped by British scientists.

They say it could be used

to screen people in air-

ports, GP surgeries, phar-

macies or ambulances to

give instant results.

The technology, devel-

oped at Northumbria Uni-

versity in Newcastle, needs

further testing but experts

say it could change the

ways the virus is spotted.

Currently coronavirus is

tested using a cheek swab

which is sent off for analy-

sis at a Public Health Eng-

land lab, which takes

between 24 and 48 hours.

The new test spots bio-

logical information in

breath which can identify

diseases. People simply

breath into a device simi-

lar to a breathalyser used

by the police.

Although diagnosis from

breath sampling has been

used before, previous

methods have not been

reliable enough due to

contamination, loss of the

sample and issues of vari-

ability in breath analysis.

But the device devel-

oped in Newcastle has

solved these problems so

data collected closely

matches results from lung

samples taken surgically.

Researchers hope the

technology could eventu-

ally be used to diagnose

lung diseases, diabetes,

cancers and liver and

brain problems.

Hospitals to shift

‘bed blockers’

HOSPITALS will be cleared

of so-called ‘bed blockers’

if the coronavirus spreads

seriously, health bosses

indicated yesterday.

Those who no longer need

intensive medical treat-

ment will be shifted from

hospital wards to make

room for patients with the

virus under the Govern-

ment’s ‘action plan’ to deal

with the outbreak.

Mostly elderly and frail,

those who need help with

everyday living rather than

treatment will be moved

back to their homes and

given care there, it said.

However, this will increase

pressure on the social care

system, which is expected

to come under strain if

coronavirus begins to affect

large numbers of people.

Health Secretary Matt

Hancock said the threat of

illness among those run-

ning care homes and pro-

viding care at home was ‘a

potentially big challenge’.

He said there would be a

call for volunteers and a

programme to bring back

qualified social care staff

who have left the industry,

i n t h e s a m e w a y t h a t

retired doctors will be

recalled to the NHS.

Speaking on BBC Radio

4’s Today programme, Mr

Hancock also called on

people who develop coughs

not to visit elderly and vul-

nerable relatives.

The move to end bed

blocking if coronavirus

develops into a crisis was

disclosed in the action plan

published yesterday by Mr

Hancock’s Department of

Health and Social Care. At

any one time it would affect

as many as 5,000 people.

can live on some surfaces

for hours. Wash your hands

more often.’ The adverts

tell patients: ‘Use soap and

water for 20 seconds or

hand sanitiser.’

The adverts also urge the

public to wash their hands

when they arrive at work or

at home in the evening. They

must do the same before

preparing or eating food,

including snacks. Mr Han-

cock said: ‘We all have a role

to play in stopping this dis-

ease. Washing hands regu-

larly is the single most

important thing that an indi-

vidual can do. Public safety

remains our top priority.’

Wendy Craig but not at an investiture last November

NHS ON HIG H EST ALERT