Coronavirus: Less than a third of doctors able to access tests if they have symptoms, new data suggests

President of Royal College of Physicians says government strategy ‘clearly isn’t working’

Survey shows that doctors do not all have access to testing and protective equipment (EPA)

Less than a third of doctors have access to tests for coronavirus in case they start showing symptoms, a new survey has suggested.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) found that only 31 per cent of doctors who are displaying symptoms of the virus can get hold of test swabs.

Almost nine in 10 said they could not access a test for a member of their household with Covid-19 symptoms, while one in 10 reported being unable to procure swabs for patients who meet the testing criteria.

The survey of more than 2,500 members also showed that 22 per cent of the respondents did not have access to adequate protective equipment and that a third of those surveyed suspected they had the virus.

Professor Andrew Goddard, the president of the RCP, said the survey results are a “stark indication” of the impact the pandemic is having on the NHS workforce.

Prof Goddard said: “The government’s current strategy to deliver testing that would support NHS staff to return to the workforce as quickly as possible clearly isn’t working.”

“The fact that only 78 per cent of respondents could access the PPE they needed is a big concern and we must aim to get to 100 per cent as soon as possible.

He added that the RCP welcomed the government’s promise to increase testing capacity to 100,000 a day by the end of the month, but stressed that the NHS, social care staff and their households needed to be tested now.

He described the progress made with testing as “far slower than the system requires” and called on the government to publish its plan.