A BOURNEMOUTH man with underlying health conditions was offered a coronavirus test 500 miles from his home.

Stephen Feltham, 73, a type two diabetic with a high blood pressure, attempted to book a coronavirus test at the Creekmoor site in Poole.

However, after the system failed he was asked to call 119, where the operator said they had run out of kits but would book a drive-through test, only to offer a test in Perth, Scotland.

Mr Feltham said: “I phoned 119 and spoke to a bloke, he was very nice and asked for my postcode.

“I gave him that which is BH8. He said there was a test available in Perth.

“I don’t know if it was a mistake, I don’t know how anything could be worse for Bournemouth. I said I don’t even want to holiday up there.

“My analysis is either they have not got enough test materials to do the tests, or they don’t have enough capacity at the laboratories.”

Mr Feltham eventually managed to book a test at the Creekmoor site, but said when he got there he was the only client for 30 staff members.

“Half an hour after the call I tried again and I got through and from that moment on everything was perfect.

“I made an appointment for 1.30pm, got to Creekmoor, all the staff were very courteous.

“I have since had my test back and it’s negative, as for the staff at Creekmoor everything was perfect, but I was the only one there.

“My test must have cost thousands of pounds.

“I think everyone is doing their best. My experience with being sent to Perth is not a major issue, the issue is having 30 people at Creekmoor looking after one client.”

This comes just a few weeks after the Daily Echo received reports of issues with the testing centre at Creekmoor.

Issues included confusion over QR codes, reports of hundreds of cars being turned away, an inability to access the government booking website and – when online access is gained – being told there are no test sites found, or advised to travel to a test site hours away.

One man booked a test elsewhere and used the QR code at Creekmoor for a test on his daughter, which was negative.

A spokesperson for the department of health and social care said: “NHS test and trace is one of the largest testing and contact tracing systems in the world.

“The service is working hard to break chains of transmission, with almost half a million people who may otherwise have unknowingly spreading coronavirus contacted and told to isolate.

“We’re working with directors of Public Health and have more than doubled the size of local health protection teams to increase local contact tracing and stop outbreaks.

“We are also providing tests at an unprecedented scale – over 225,000 a day on average over the last week – and expanding capacity further to provide 500,000 tests a day by the end of October.”