An 80-second video uploaded onto social media by health authorities this week has highlighted just how desperate NSW has become.
An 80-second video uploaded onto social media by health authorities this week has highlighted just how desperate NSW has become.
The NSW Health clip shows senior health bureaucrats begging for tens of thousands of former doctors, nurses, psychologists and dentists to return to hospitals to help the health system cope with surging hospitalisations due to Covid cases in the state.
Australia’s medical watchdog has now doubled the number of practitioners on its pandemic sub-registers to more than 55,000 health professionals who have retired or stopped work.
Although cases in NSW – Australia’s worst affected state in this outbreak – are beginning to stabilise, there is a lagging effect on hospitalisations.
This means that although daily case numbers may start to drop in the coming weeks, the strain on the hospital system will grow.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned the state’s hospitals may be “technically overwhelmed” next month as ICUs prepare for a surge of up to three times their usual capacity.
This week she said the numbers in ICU are “about what we assumed, so we are anticipating our worst weeks in ICU and hospitals to be in October”. She said the system could be “technically overwhelmed” for a number of weeks during that month.
The current figures show there are now 1518 people in the state in hospital with Covid, and of those, 302 are in ICU.
Victoria’s outbreak has also gathered pace, meaning there are 257 people in hospital with Covid there, with 58 of them in ICU.
To help cope, in NSW health authorities have put out a video calling for retired health professionals to help out.
It comes as a second major outbreak is unfolding at Liverpool Hospital, with dozens of people tested positive for Covid-19 across six separate wards.
Yesterday, South West Sydney Local Health District said 24 patients and five staff, including an intensive care unit nurse, contracted the virus over a week. Last month, an outbreak at the hospital resulted in 12 deaths.
The pressure is now so high that the Australian Medical Association (AMA) is calling on NSW to look at employing private sector workers who are without work due to the state’s ban on non-urgent surgery.
The call for help has also gone interstate, with authorities in NSW asking for expressions of interest from WA doctors, nurses and logisticians.
One of those who has dusted off his scrubs is Bruce Dowd, 63, who returned to nursing at a major Sydney hospital last month after retiring from a 38-year career in intensive care in 2018.
“I am still relatively young and my faculties are pretty good – I mean, I get a bit sore in the knees after going back to full-time – so I would have felt guilty not going in because I think I still have something to offer,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I can do my own small bit to help out and try to give the expertise and knowledge I still have. The nurses working at the bedside are doing a fantastic job.”
If you would like to find out more about helping with the effort visit the NSW Health website.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiuwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS93b3JsZC9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy9hdXN0cmFsaWEvZGVzcGVyYXRlLWNhbGwtZm9yLXJldGlyZWQtbnVyc2VzLWFuZC1kb2N0b3JzLXRvLWhlbHAtYXMtY292aWQtaG9zcGl0YWxpc2F0aW9ucy1ncm93LWluLW5zdy9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2VjY2M4MTg0ZGViMmZkYjU0NWNhOWNlZDFkMmFhYTY50gG_AWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm5ld3MuY29tLmF1L3dvcmxkL2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzL2F1c3RyYWxpYS9kZXNwZXJhdGUtY2FsbC1mb3ItcmV0aXJlZC1udXJzZXMtYW5kLWRvY3RvcnMtdG8taGVscC1hcy1jb3ZpZC1ob3NwaXRhbGlzYXRpb25zLWdyb3ctaW4tbnN3L25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvZWNjYzgxODRkZWIyZmRiNTQ1Y2E5Y2VkMWQyYWFhNjk_YW1w?oc=5
2021-09-23 00:51:06Z
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