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The Irish Platform for Patients, Science and Industry (IPPOSI) calls on the HSE and GPs to prioritise COVID-19 testing for patients with underlying conditions and urges the public not to flood new testing centres unnecessarily.
Last week the HSE announced that it will be rolling out large scale Covid-19 testing throughout Ireland from Monday 16th March. The Irish Platform for Patients, Science and Industry (IPPOSI) says patients with underlying conditions want the HSE and GPs to prioritise testing for them, their families and carers. IPPOSI also calls on the public to act responsibly and not to flood new testing centres and GP surgeries unnecessarily with requests for testing.
Patients with chronic conditions are at particular risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19. It is essential that these people are diagnosed quickly and treated immediately and early testing for this community is essential.
Derick Mitchell, CEO of IPPOSI, urges the public to heed government advice on identifying the symptoms of COVID-19, namely having a cough and high temperature, and not to unnecessarily flood GPs and testing centres with requests for testing. “Our patient organisations tell us that their members our increasingly worried about accessing testing with many people self-isolating from family members already while they wait for access to testing.”
IPPOSI says that patients need advice that is targeted at the high risk and vulnerable groups rather than generic help line information currently available. Not only are high risk groups worried about contracting COVID-19 but they are also concerned about the impact on their regular treatments and medicines. IPPOSI is calling for the following:
- More streamlined and standardised communication process between the HSE, CHOs and Service Provider organisations as the situation escalates and regular services are impacted.
- Dedicated contact points be identified within the Department of Health and HSE to ensure effective flow of information with patient organisations and to answer their concerns
IPPOSI also highlights the fact that information overload and false information is causing unnecessary worry and confusion amongst the High Risk Covid community. It urges members of the High Risk Covid community to follow the following guidelines:
- The patient organisation for your specific disease should be your main information point. Patient organisations are open and are providing timely information updates for their communities regarding COVID-19.
- Patient organisations are working with their respective clinical programmes and medical advisors in relation to condition-specific information of relevance to their members.
- If you are worried about prescription medicines supply, please contact your local pharmacist for information. They are the experts in relation to supply of medicines.
- IPPOSI as a partnership of patient organisations, science and industry is in an unique position to provide updated and reliable information through our Twitter account (@ipposi) & website ipposi.ie and we encourage people to follow these channels.
IPPOSI Chairperson, Ava Battles of MS Ireland added:
“We welcome the work of the National Public Health Emergency Team on COVID-19, in particular the engagement with patient groups and the subgroup for vulnerable people. It is critical that these engagements provide leadership bringing clarity to the specific issues faced by both patient organisations and vulnerable groups and supports the roll-out of critical responses.
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Croí is a proud member of IPPOSI.
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