Sir, – You quote ESRI research (News, August 26th) as saying that "more than a third of people wrongly believe that they will have to pay for a Covid-19 test if it is recommended by their doctor".
True. But the referral is not free. No wonder people are “confused”. – Yours, etc,
MARY BYRNE,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – The ESRI research appears to be based on the incorrect premise that test referral is free. My wife contacted our GP last Thursday for a Covid test referral to be told that nobody was available to call her back until Monday and to call the local out-of-hours service instead. It had the capacity to make the required five-minute phone call but insisted on €50 for the effort. I called the HSE helpline to query this and was told that any charge is entirely at the GP’s discretion. The test referral process is clearly not where it should be and the requirement for GP referral and payment will likely cause huge problems as we head into winter.
Once scheduled, the actual test was impressively efficient, and the result proved negative, thankfully. – Yours, etc,
ANDREW DUGGAN,
Dublin 16.