Covid NSW: Hospitals faced with critical staff shortages as Omicron spreads

Omicron is spreading far and wide and now hospitals are facing serious staff shortages due to the numbers of staff off with Covid or isolating due to close contacts.

Health care workers have been asked to cancel planned holidays and work extra shifts to cover for those workers currently off due to Covid as leaked emails shed light on how widespread Covid exposure is in health care workers.

According to NSW Health, 1364 staff either have Covid or are isolating due to exposure at a time when hospitalisation rates are climbing. On Saturday, there were 388 Covid cases in hospital, with 52 in intensive care with 14 of them requiring ventilation.

At John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, where there has been several super spreader Omicron events, The Sunday Telegraph has obtained an email sent on December 16 that outlines the staff impact.

“116 nurses/midwives are off due to close contact isolation (community transmission) incl. at least two confirmed positive cases,” the email reveals.

Email to staff from John Hunter Hospital outlines staff impacted by Covid.

“There are also several Medical Officers also in isolation along with 25 admin staff, 27 Allied health and 13 Healthshare/in-hospital Hotel Services.

“42 nurses in isolation just in the ICU which caused gaps in the roster and they are moving staff from other areas to cover some of the shortages.”

At John Hunter Children’s Hospital eight nurses are off and in isolation, six medical staff and 14 admin staff and at Belmont Hospital 16 nurses were off.

John Hunter Hospital nurse and union delegate Joanne Patterson said staffing was at critical levels.

“One ward is four nurses short on Christmas Day and staff all over the hospital are being asked to work 12 hour shifts or do overtime and some have been asked not to take leave they have been granted.”

Brett Holmes form the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association said he had never seen so many nursing shifts needing to be filled.

“All over the place there are vacant shifts and rosters that are very hard to fill.

“They are now offering to cancel leave for people who want to keep working,” Mr Holmes said.

John Hunter Hospital. Picture: Supplied

Professor Miriam Levy, chair of the staff medical council at Liverpool Hospital said the Omicron wave was more challenging than Delta given the amount of staff affected.

“There is so much Covid and the problem is competing for getting test results so staff can work,” Prof Levy said.

“(Last week) I had two junior doctors having to stay off work and this is two out of two at that level off work having to wait for a negative test because they sat at a table at lunch where someone else turned out to be positive, so that was considered a contact that wouldn’t normally be a big deal but you are not allowed to come into the hospital so it is affecting hospitals way more.

“What we are all fearing is that in a week everyone will presumably be a contact of someone else, we are sitting ducks in a way.”

In a statement NSW Health said: “Staff can be deployed to different parts of the health system as needed due to patient demand, workforce supply challenges and the hospital’s capacity to surge.

“All Local Health Districts have well developed workforce surge and demand management plans in place, and our networked hospital system ensures patients can be transferred or redirected to other hospitals where necessary, including private hospitals.”

Currently healthcare workers who are close contacts of a Covid case can return to work after seven days if they have a negative PCR test on day six.

“It is not going to be realistic to have health care workers stay home for seven days every time they have a contact, unless they live alone, they are going to get it, everyone is going to be a contact,” Prof Levy said.

“We need to keep working and looking after patients, we can’t have the workforce go down, we need to work out some new rules to apply to this milder infection so we keep the wheels moving.”

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