Kym Murphy and Jasmine Kellaway

With COVID-19 case numbers rising in the community after the Queensland borders opened, STARS had to rapidly stand up a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) clinic to ensure the safety of patients coming into the hospital for procedures.

STARS Allied Health Project Officers Jasmine Kellaway and Kym Murphy and a team of dedicated staff worked around the clock to stand up the RAT clinic on just a few days’ notice.

“At the time, the evidence suggested that patients that had procedures while sick with COVID-19 experienced worse clinical outcomes,” Jasmine said.

“The purpose of the RAT Clinic was to do the right thing for patients and staff by ensuring the safety of everyone.”

Kym said when people arrived, we aimed to ensure they were tested promptly so they could get upstairs for their procedure as soon as possible.

“Understandably, patients were often a little anxious when they arrived – I suspect both for their procedure and for the RAT result due to increasing COVID numbers within the community,” she said.

During January the RAT Clinic tested between 60 to 90 patients each day with a positive rate of less than two percent.

“Overwhelmingly though, even those who unfortunately tested positive on the day of their procedure were grateful we were being thorough to not expose them or their treating team to any further risk,” Kym said.

“A cup of tea and sandwich provided by the Procedure Unit were always well received for these fasting patients until their transport home arrived!”