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Twice a fortnight, Philip Griffin attends Flinders Cancer Clinic for his chemotherapy treatment.
To do this he — like all elective admission patients — is required to show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test each week.
Dr Griffin is no stranger to the corridors and operating rooms of Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide’s south: He worked there for 22 years.
He was previously the hospital’s head of plastic and reconstructive surgery but now, as a cancer patient during the pandemic, his frustration is growing.
The wait times for COVID-19 tests, he said, were having a significant impact on unwell patients.
“Currently, the way they do it is taking away hours of your time, at the least convenient time in your life,” he said.
“I spent two-and-a-half of the best hours of my fortnight, because you feel quite healthy then, knowing it was going to be negative because as a cancer patient I am not a social gadabout.”
Dr Griffin is calling on the state government to find a solution to the current COVID-19 testing process, and has suggested following the UK’s lead in introducing a system where PCR tests are delivered and returned via the post.
“As we have seen, SA Health reacts very slowly to that increased demand and produces enormous waiting times,” he said.
“Patients are donating so many hours of their time to sitting in queues, which is completely unreasonable.”
Waiting times for COVID-19 tests in SA have fluctuated in recent days, peaking at around eight hours as queues stretched for hundreds of metres outside the Victoria Park drive-through clinic in Adelaide.
“We thank those people for their patience. We also apologise for the lengthy delays that some people have experienced,” Premier Steven Marshall said.
Efforts to minimise those times were unveiled on Tuesday, and include the scrapping of a requirement for incoming travellers from interstate to get tested upon arrival — provided they do not have symptoms.
Authorities are also urging those who need a test and are intending to get one to book online via the SA Health website.
“We know that the lines have been very frustrating for people, and that’s why we’re saying you do not need to be in that line,” Mr Marshall said.
“You can make a booking online, by the SA Health website, for 12 sites, metropolitan and country, from Mount Gambier right into the centre of the city.”
Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier has indicated support for a broader rollout of rapid antigen testing, including to pregnant women who are about to go into labour.
“My preference would be for rapid antigen testing in that situation as it’s a surveillance test rather than a test on symptoms,” she said.
She said while queues might be long, the time between swabbing and getting a test result was still acceptable.
“We have a really, really rapid turnaround time and we’re very proud of that,” she said.
“Our laboratory capacity is holding up at the moment but that’s again another reason for dropping those interstate testing requirements to make sure that we’re using the testing where we need it.”
But, in addition to the current tactics, Dr Griffin wants South Australia to adopt a self-testing model similar to the UK, where PCR tests are conducted at home by the patient and then posted in the Royal Mail.
“If we were to move to home testing for convenience for everybody, it would be deeply appreciated,” he said.
“You can trust South Australians to do home testing every bit as accurately as the nurse who should actually be doing critical care.”
In a statement, SA Health said that the state’s “many testing options” include “more than 80 testing sites across SA and almost 30 in metropolitan Adelaide”.
“We encourage people to use the online booking system which is available at Victoria Park, Ridgehaven, Elizabeth South, Port Adelaide, Repat, Bedford Park or Berri testing clinics,” it said.
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