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Hospital staff calling in sick with swine flu doubles
By Adam Cresswell and Verity Edwards
The Australian
July 18, 2009 12:01am
Hospitals battling staff absenteeism
Double number of nurses calling in sick
Pregnant mums told to take precautions
HOSPITALS at the forefront of the swine flu crisis are battling staff absenteeism of 10 to 15 per cent as health workers themselves get sick, further stretching patient care capabilities.
Health administrators in NSW, where the disease is hitting hardest, say many Sydney hospitals have 20 nurses out of a workforce of several hundred calling in sick daily - compared with a normal level of 10 - and replacements are not always available, The Australian reports.
NSW Health deputy director-general Tim Smyth said the state's hospitals were resorting to various measures to deal with the crisis, including asking more staff to work overtime, cancelling non-essential operations, diverting less seriously ill patients to flu clinics and deferring staff holidays.
The national death toll from swine flu is now 31, with Queensland having the highest number of confirmed cases to date, at 3428, with NSW next on 2673 and Victoria on 2402.
NSW has by far the greatest numbers in hospital and intensive care. Its hospitals are treating 75 patients for swine flu, compared with 37 in Victoria, the next highest. Of the 83 people in intensive care nationally, 40, including four pregnant women, are in NSW, 19 are in Victoria and 13 in Queensland.
To ease the load, GPs had been told not to send patients to hospitals for swine flu testing, as this was no longer deemed useful, and the department was trying to persuade employers not to expect sick notes from employees.
A senior hospital doctor said there were "no shifts in which someone doesn't call in sick" and managers were failing to plan ahead by rostering extra staff.
Garry Nieuwkamp, head of the emergency department at Wyong Hospital and a member of the Hospital Reform Group, said: "We had a shift a couple of weeks ago when there were two (senior) people off. That really impacts the running of the department, because you have junior staff doing most of the work and the risk of error is compounded."
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has advised pregnant women to be "alert but not alarmed" about the risk of swine flu.
Adelaide advertising accounts manager Kate Carpenter said she planned to go shopping next week and would catch public transport if she needed to.
Mrs Carpenter, 33, is due to give birth to her second child in five weeks.
She is among thousands of heavily pregnant women warned not to catch public transport or visit crowded places, such as shopping centres, in an effort to avoid catching swine flu.
"It doesn't really bother me, I just figure you take the same precautions, as you do with a cold," Mrs Carpenter said. "If you have to catch public transport, you have to catch public transport."
Pregnant women are particularly susceptible to the virus and have been urged to quickly contact their GP if they develop flu-like symptoms. Four pregnant women with swine flu were this week being treated in the intensive care units of various Sydney hospitals.
By Adam Cresswell and Verity Edwards
The Australian
July 18, 2009 12:01am
Hospitals battling staff absenteeism
Double number of nurses calling in sick
Pregnant mums told to take precautions
HOSPITALS at the forefront of the swine flu crisis are battling staff absenteeism of 10 to 15 per cent as health workers themselves get sick, further stretching patient care capabilities.
Health administrators in NSW, where the disease is hitting hardest, say many Sydney hospitals have 20 nurses out of a workforce of several hundred calling in sick daily - compared with a normal level of 10 - and replacements are not always available, The Australian reports.
NSW Health deputy director-general Tim Smyth said the state's hospitals were resorting to various measures to deal with the crisis, including asking more staff to work overtime, cancelling non-essential operations, diverting less seriously ill patients to flu clinics and deferring staff holidays.
The national death toll from swine flu is now 31, with Queensland having the highest number of confirmed cases to date, at 3428, with NSW next on 2673 and Victoria on 2402.
NSW has by far the greatest numbers in hospital and intensive care. Its hospitals are treating 75 patients for swine flu, compared with 37 in Victoria, the next highest. Of the 83 people in intensive care nationally, 40, including four pregnant women, are in NSW, 19 are in Victoria and 13 in Queensland.
To ease the load, GPs had been told not to send patients to hospitals for swine flu testing, as this was no longer deemed useful, and the department was trying to persuade employers not to expect sick notes from employees.
A senior hospital doctor said there were "no shifts in which someone doesn't call in sick" and managers were failing to plan ahead by rostering extra staff.
Garry Nieuwkamp, head of the emergency department at Wyong Hospital and a member of the Hospital Reform Group, said: "We had a shift a couple of weeks ago when there were two (senior) people off. That really impacts the running of the department, because you have junior staff doing most of the work and the risk of error is compounded."
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has advised pregnant women to be "alert but not alarmed" about the risk of swine flu.
Adelaide advertising accounts manager Kate Carpenter said she planned to go shopping next week and would catch public transport if she needed to.
Mrs Carpenter, 33, is due to give birth to her second child in five weeks.
She is among thousands of heavily pregnant women warned not to catch public transport or visit crowded places, such as shopping centres, in an effort to avoid catching swine flu.
"It doesn't really bother me, I just figure you take the same precautions, as you do with a cold," Mrs Carpenter said. "If you have to catch public transport, you have to catch public transport."
Pregnant women are particularly susceptible to the virus and have been urged to quickly contact their GP if they develop flu-like symptoms. Four pregnant women with swine flu were this week being treated in the intensive care units of various Sydney hospitals.
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