Chaos at hospitals as more than 100 medical workers stopped overnight in border crackdown

Hospitals and medical facilities on the Queensland-NSW border are scrambling to fill staff rosters after a shock 1am edict stopped hundreds of employees from crossing.

• Southern businesses in shock at marathon border closure
• Exclusive video: New species on the Gold Coast

HOSPITALS and medical facilities on the Queensland-NSW border are scrambling to fill staff rosters after a shock 1am edict stopped hundreds of employees from crossing.

The Bulletin understands a private medical facility was only alerted at 5pm on Wednesday that the class exemption for hospital workers would be revoked from early on Thursday morning.

Army to arrive to assist police at the Queensland border. Griffith Street, Coolangatta. Picture: Nigel Hallett.

The decision has sent shockwaves through the health industry with the John Flynn Hospital at Tugun not given enough time to find almost 140 replacement staffers.

Meanwhile, public hospital workers who live in Queensland but only need to make a short walk to the Tweed Hospital are furious after being told they are no longer essential staffers.

The Palaszczuk Government should be “ashamed” after preventing speech pathology, dietitian and social work services workers crossing to the Tweed, a Tweed health source said.

“They have taken away the people who clean the blood from the sheets. The people who deliver food and drinks. The people who give voice to the voiceless,” the source said.

John Flynn Private Hospital — border closures impacting on staffers. Picture: Supplied.

“They have taken away the hands that hold patients who are dying alone in a white room. We are shocked. We are insulted. We are so sad for our patients.”

Dr Guy Wright-Smith, a specialist who attends patients at the John Flynn Hospital, fears what will happen without cleaners, engineering staff, caterers and administration support employees forced to stay in NSW.

“This is a disaster. Patient’s lives will be at risk. Queensland Health report it will be a minimum of five days to grant any exemptions,” Dr Wright-Smith said.

“When I have a patient die in front of me I will tell the family to blame Queensland Health and the Queensland Government.”

Under the changes, prescribed health practitioners who can cross the border include the following areas — dental, medical, medical radiation practice, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, paramedicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry, psychology and those providing services as a registered NDIS provider under an agreed NDIS plan.

School kids wanting to cross the border. Picture: Nigel Hallett.

Currumbin LNP MP Laura Gerber has accused the government of abandoning patients after

revoking the class exemption, given 11 days ago, for essential workers to enter Queensland.

“I cannot believe the State Government has left our border hospital in the lurch once again.” Ms Gerber said.

“The State Government has revoked the class exemption and given the hospital less than 24 hours notice and yet it will take the Director-General a painful five days to approve these workers.

“It defies belief. Our border hospital cannot function without these workers for five days. Patient’s lives are at risk. Our border community is literally being left for dead.”

Currumbin MP Laura Gerber — this government decision defies belief. Photo: Instagram

An update was given to health service providers after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young announced a new process for assessing workers seeking to enter Queensland.

“This process is being introduced to ensure only persons who are genuinely essential are

continuing to cross into Queensland from the border zone,” a senior bureaucrat wrote.

“Given the spread of the Delta variant of concern throughout New South Wales, the border zone continues to represent a transmission risk to Queensland.

“But it is understood that there are some essential workers, critical to the operation of our facilities, who need to continue to enter the state. The risk posed by this limited cohort will be managed through vaccination, restricting movement, and other public health measures.”

Vaccination requirements are needed for all endorsed essential workers entering from the Border Zone.

Essential workers are now being defined as a medical practitioner or other prescribed health practitioner, a pathology collection worker including a pathology courier, an aged care or disability worker where care was considered critical.

A male driver holding a sign up to police regarding hospital treatment at John Flynn Hospital Picture: Jerad Williams.

Others include emergency health services or emergency services worker, national defence, state security or police worker.

Exemptions can be made for freight or logistics operators, an emergency infrastructure worker, aircrew or maritime crew, an emergency volunteer and a disaster management worker.

Private health operators can seek exemptions for staffers, but they must first identify the list of workers whom they deem essential and lodge an application through the exemptions portal.

Operators have been told a decision on the application “will be communicated within five business days of the application being received”.

Some Queensland-based workers cannot get to the Tweed Hospital Photo: Jessica Lamb.

But there must “no one else in Queensland” who can undertake the “critical” work.

The worker must need to be physically present in Queensland to do the work.

“The goal of the strict border with New South Wales is to limit, as far as practicable, the number of people entering Queensland,” the bureaucrat wrote.

“For every person who crosses the border each day they could potentially import COVID-19 into our state and our health facilities, which we know could be catastrophic.”

A Queensland Health spokesperson said: “We know that border closures are inconvenient and can cause disruption to people’s lives and livelihoods. But the border zone continues to be a transmission risk to Queensland so we need to balance these factors against the health risk to our whole state.

“If you live in the NSW border zone, entering Queensland is only permitted for an essential purpose. If you fall outside of the essential worker category an application can be made to the relevant Queensland Government agency to consider if the work is genuinely essential to the operation of the respective facility or service.

“The aim of the strict border is to limit the number of people entering Queensland who could potentially import COVID-19 into our state, which we know could be catastrophic leading to more lock downs and even tighter control measures.”

Follow @PaulWestonGC 

 

Originally published as Chaos at hospitals as more than 100 medical workers stopped overnight in border crackdown