‘Should not have happened’: Fury after positive nurse worked across multiple hospitals
A Victorian hospital at the centre of an alarming Covid-19 breach has responded after health officials expressed their unhappiness and disappointment.
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A Victorian hospital at the centre of an alarming Covid-19 protocol breach has responded after it was revealed a nurse who tested positive worked across multiple facilities.
The alarming breach saw the nurse – who worked on a dedicated coronavirus ward at Epping Private Hospital – also work two shifts at another hospital.
The Victorian health department has a provision stating staff working in a dedicated Covid-19 ward with positive patients are not to work across multiple sites.
In a short two-line statement provided to NCA NewsWire, a spokesman for Health Care Australia, which operates the facility, said it was working with the health department following the breach.
“Epping Private Hospital has been established under the direction of, and in close collaboration with, the Department of Health and Human Services,” he said.
“We’re continuing to work closely with the department in relation to staffing and the care of patients at the facility.”
It’s understood the concerning breach was a result of a rostering operational error.
According to its website, Epping Private was recommissioned to provide medical care for aged care residents impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with all transfers co-ordinated by the health department.
A team of 50 nurses, doctors and support staff from across Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia work at the facility.
The state’s Covid-19 response commander, Jeroen Weimar, who revealed the breach on Thursday morning, said he was “exceptionally concerned and disappointed” that it had happened.
The fully vaccinated nurse, who tested positive to the virus on Tuesday, worked on the Covid ward at Epping Private Hospital where three Arcare residents who were also confirmed cases were relocated about 11 days ago.
“We have very clear expectations and strong requirements of the designated Covid wards to look after our most vulnerable patients who are suffering with Covid,” he said.
“One of those expectations is that staff are dedicated to that particular ward and do not work elsewhere.
“I’m very concerned and disappointed that this has occurred.
“That should not have been allowed to happen.”
Mr Weimar said the health department would be following up with Epping Private Hospital to seek an explanation on how and why the breach occurred.
The nurse completed two shifts at the Northern Hospital in Epping on June 11 and 12.
As a result, 27 staff and five patients at the hospital have been identified as close contacts and are now completing 14 days’ quarantine.
The nurse also attended a vaccination clinic on June 14 for her final dose of the Covid vaccine.
Another 30 people there – five staff and 25 people receiving vaccinations – have also been identified as close contacts of the nurse and will also complete 14 days’ isolation.
“This really highlights of course the importance of not seeing staff working across multiple sites where we have known Covid cases,” Mr Weimar said.
“I had a series of meetings with the CEOs of Northern and Epping Private (hospitals), and other supporting agencies to ensure we re-establish a far more rigorous regime to look after these Covid patients.
“This appears to be an operational error being made by Epping Private that allowed the roster to be run in a way and the attestations for staff to be done a certain way that meant we have a staff nurse working across two different sites.
“It should not be allowed to happen. Had it not been allowed to happen, we would not have seen the impact on Northern Hospital that we see today, with 27 staff being furloughed.
“It is disappointing, I’m very unhappy about that situation.”
Mr Weimar said he was confident it would not happen again.
He said the five patients the nurse worked with at Northern Hospital had tested negative and were isolated.
Mr Weimar said they were still waiting for the genomic sequencing data, so it was too early to “be definitive” on where the nurse contracted the virus, but while caring for the three positive Covid-19 patients at Epping Private Hospital was the leading line of inquiry.
Eleven primary close contacts have been identified at Epping Private, and they will be required to complete 14 days’ isolation.
Another 23 staff at Epping Private have been isolated until they receive a negative result, with 22 of them already cleared of having the virus.
Mr Weimar said a daily testing program at Epping Private would continue until the outbreak was cleared and the three positive patients return to the Arcare aged care facility.
There are eight designated Covid wards in hospitals across the state, with the facilities at Epping Private and La Trobe Private hospitals primarily earmarked for aged care residents.
Several new exposure sites published overnight, including the Village Cinemas, public toilets and 400 Gradi at Crown Casino, were associated with the positive nurse.
Originally published as ‘Should not have happened’: Fury after positive nurse worked across multiple hospitals
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