Mersey Community Hospital plea for safe response and support with current COVID outbreak
Health care workers across the state are working tirelessly to prepare, adapt and train as quickly and as professionally as possible to this highly stressful global pandemic; unprecedented in our lifetime. Right now, the Tasmanian Government and Health Services response and resources needs to pivot and focus on the north-west to identify all cases including those that are asymptomatic, isolate, contain and crush the virus to save lives.
To enable our health care professionals to manage this crisis, no-one, no matter the role they hold within a hospital should be exposed to COVID 19. Further under no circumstance should a hospital staff member be expected to expose themselves unnecessarily while doing their job; all workers must be well equipped, appropriately trained, professionally supported and well versed in managing this stressful environment. Staff and patients alike deserve a safe place to care and be cared for.
It cannot be assumed by management that people will have the time to undertake their own online training.
Management needs to ensure that staff are not working in multiple vulnerable workplaces during a pandemic outbreak.
AMA Tasmania President Prof John Burgess today called on the Minister to release to healthcare workers the learnings from the outbreak investigation as a matter of the highest priority.
Prof Burgess added, "the outbreak that has occurred in the north-west is something that could happen anywhere in Australia. The open letter addressed to Minister Courtney "Mersey Community Hospital plea for safe response and support with current COVID outbreak" is a real insight into the concerns of healthcare workers in the north-west, and the government must listen to their concerns and act upon them immediately.
"Outbreaks in a healthcare environment can occur, but it is something that must be guarded against, and this can be achieved by following strict guidelines and open and transparent lines of communication."
Moving forward AMA advocates on behalf of not only our members but all health care staff working on the frontline to learn from this north-west outbreak, to take this opportunity to put the necessary safeguards in place to minimise the likelihood that similar events will occur in the future.
This can be achieved by streamlining our communication, by ensuring the community get behind the measures needed to stamp out the virus, by providing responsive training and reliable supply of vital PPE particularly in known hot spot areas along with strong mental health support for our workers. It is also critical to have openness and transparency to help build confidence in management and government that they will provide a safe work environment for everyone at all the north-west hospitals.
While our immediate focus lies firmly with our north-west colleagues; these basic workplace requirements are not restricted to the north-west and need to be efficiently and expertly rolled out across the state.