Second swine flu clinic opens as cases rise
BY NATASHA RUDRA
13/06/2009 10:22:00 AM
The ACT Government has opened a second swine flu clinic at Canberra Hospital after increasing numbers of patients and a bookings breakdown left some families waiting seven hours for treatment at Calvary Hospital yesterday.
But bookings are essential and Health Minister Katy Gallagher says Canberrans shouldn't expect immediate treatment or even swine flu tests when they attend the flu clinics.
Five more swine flu cases were confirmed last night, bringing the ACT's total to 40. But none have been linked to Florey Primary School, where one kindergarten pupil has contracted the disease and up to 60 pupils have been quarantined.
Parents must now ring Canberra Connect tomorrow afternoon to confirm if Florey Primary School will open or close on Monday.
The second ACT clinic opened on the same day the World Health Organisation declared swine the first pandemic in 40 years. But federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon insisted that despite WHO's escalation, the influenza A(H1N1) virus remained mild and Australia would not raise its swine flu alert levels.
The ACT's special swine flu clinic opened at Calvary Hospital last week to handle patients with flu-like symptoms and has seen up to 151 patients a day.
But high demand for services and a breakdown in the bookings process yesterday meant families, including some from Florey Primary, were left waiting for hours.
Frustrated parents told The Canberra Times they had received no warning about lengthy delays at the clinic.
One father, who asked not to be named, spent more than seven hours in the clinic with his young daughter before he could leave.
''The procedure seems a little ridiculous,'' the Hawker man said.
''We had no warning we would be spending all day in a small room crammed with school kids, with nothing to entertain them.''
Ms Gallagher apologised to the community for the breakdown, which was due to a Government error.
ACT Health said the problem had since been rectified and it was essential to ring the Government health service, healthdirect Australia, before coming to the clinic.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times
