Sunshine Coast hospitals, police affected as Covid-19 cases surge

Staffing at Sunshine Coast hospitals and police stations have taken a hit as Covid-19 cases surge across the region.

Hospital staff are under “enormous pressure” and dozens of police officers are off work as the surge of Covid-19 cases hits essential sectors.

Unions and politicians are calling for greater urgency on making rapid tests widely available with essential workers isolating while waiting for Covid-19 results.

It is understood dozens of Sunshine Coast police officers are currently off work due to contracting Covid-19 or being close contacts.

Staffing challenges are affecting multiple sectors with hospitality businesses closing or reducing hours, aviation companies cutting flights and venues cancelling events.

Queensland Nurses and Midwifery Union secretary Beth Mohle said the staffing crisis left nurses, midwives and hospital staff feeling extremely stressed.

On Tuesday chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said across Queensland 2138 heath care staff tested positive for Covid-19 while a further 2715 were isolating due to being close contacts.

Queensland chief health officer Dr John Gerrard.

Sunshine Coast District Officer Superintendent Craig Hawkins said the region’s officers were affected.

While he could not confirm how many staff were off, he said officers were managing.

“I’m confident we have sufficient police,” he said.

“We also have plans and contingencies where we could change our normal rostering practices if needed.”

Maroochydore MP Fiona Simpson said police should be given priority for Covid testing with some officers waiting up to five days for test results.

Queensland Health and Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service would not confirm how many staff in the region were affected.

Ms Mohle said nurses, midwives and health workers in hospitals and aged care facilities were experiencing extreme stress from staffing challenges and the rising numbers of Covid-19 cases.

On Tuesday Sunshine Coast hospitals were treating 43 Covid-19 patients, including four in intensive care.

“Our public and private health and aged care systems are under enormous pressure,” Ms Mohle said.

“They are deeply concerned about their ability to deliver the highest quality of care.

“The coming weeks in Queensland will be critical.”

A Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service spokeswoman said they were grateful to all of their staff who had done an amazing job throughout the pandemic.

“The health and wellbeing of our staff is paramount and there are many things in place to support our staff during this time, including access to a staff health and wellbeing portal and free psychological support, should they need it,” she said.

“Covid-19 is widespread within our community so it is no surprise that some of our staff have also contracted it, however, this has caused minimal disruption to our services.

“We have been planning for this for some time and as such we have an amazing ability to adapt our workforce to meet our changing needs.”

Dr Gerrard said this week that the state’s Covid-19 cases were expected to peak late January and that hospitals would be under significant pressure.

He said a plateau would not be seen in hospitals until a week after it was experienced in the community.

Ms Mohle said in the meantime nurses were working with reduced nurse-to-patient ratios with fewer staff while colleagues test positive for Covid-19 or await results.