Cairns Covid recovery plan: staff, surgery and spending
As FNQ passed its Covid peak, the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service revealed its recovery plan with a triple focus on staff care, clinical backlog and balancing the books.
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STAFF retention, surgical backlog and finance are the three prongs the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service will be focusing on now as FNQ has surpassed the pandemic peak.
Amid news that two people died on Wednesday night and 17 people with Covid remain in Cairns Hospital including one person on a ventilator in intensive care, a senior medical officer announced plans for the region’s recovery.
Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service, Covid Health Incident Controller, Dr Donna Goodman, said on Thursday afternoon that the recovery plan involved staff care, medical producers backlog and finance.
Dr Goodman also confirmed they were treating 69 people for Covid across the region.
Dr Goodman said the CHHHS recovery process has a three-fold focus.
“There are three elements, the first is to look at our staff, we need to make sure as many staff as possible have a rest before returning to full clinical services,” she said.
“We are very keen to make sure our staff are supported, they have done an enormous job over the past two years, a lot of people have forgone leave and working extra shifts, we hope we do not lose staff through this and we want them feeling well and rested so they can come back to work.”
Dr Goodman said the second element involved managing the massive accumulation of medical services impacted by the pandemic.
“The second element is to look at the backlog of patients who have not been able to receive care due to Covid,” she said.
“The third is about finances, we will look at what’s happening with the costs of Covid going forward.”
However, Dr Goodman was unable to comment further on what the actual dollar value Covid has cost the CHHHS.
Although the Covid peak had passed, Dr Goodman said there are 17 people in the Hospital in Cairns including two people in the ICU and one person is being ventilated.
“We are also caring for two people at Mareeba and have 50 people in the virtual ward.”
Dr Goodman said the CHHHS was aware and grateful for the fantastic effort of its staff and workers during the pandemic.”
Dr Goodman said unfortunately, the CHHHS has had 21 deaths due to Covid since the state border opened in December.
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