Hospital staff abused as coronavirus triggers racism
As fears over coronavirus mount, the Royal Children’s Hospital is set to issue an anti-racism warning after a series of families refused to let their children be treated by “Asian” staff.
VIC News
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Royal Children’s Hospital staff have been rocked by families refusing to let children be treated by “Asian” doctors due to misplaced or racist fears of coronavirus.
After a series of distressing incidents directed at its staff the RCH will on Thursday issue an anti-racism warning for anyone coming to the hospital.
The Herald Sun understands one incident in the RCH’s emergency department was so serious a distressed medical staff member has been placed on leave.
Other incidents reported at the hospital include families requesting another doctor to examine their child, refusing to be seen by “Asian doctors”, or demanding certain doctors do not touch their children.
In recent weeks the hospital has also experienced parents demanding to know if doctors of Asian heritage have been tested for COVID-19 before they will let them treat their sick children.
Sources within the RCH say misinformation is also harming young patients, as families refuse to share waiting rooms with families who appear Asian for fear of the virus.
RCH emergency department deputy director Assoc Prof Joanne Grindlay said a lack of medical knowledge may be behind some instances, however there are fears some people are using coronavirus as an excuse for racism.
“Anyone who is at risk of coronavirus is being appropriately assessed and isolated — you are not going to catch coronavirus just because of the colour of someone’s skin,” Assoc Prof Grindlay said.
“People are worried with good reason, this is a nasty virus. But there is currently minimal risk of anyone in Australia passing it on.”
This month the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine raised concerns over an increase in racism within emergency departments, with patients and staff of Chinese appearance being subjected to coronavirus-related abuse.
The impact has been so severe the RCH has provided staff with a script to deal with the incidents.
Alarmed at reports of racial profiling within the hospital, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos will join the RCH on Thursday to slam behaviour that flies in the face of medical advice.
“Suggesting the spread of this virus has anything to do with ethnicity is wrong and shows complete disrespect for our hardworking healthcare workers,” Ms Mikakos said.
“It is crucial we act with compassion, respect and consideration of each other — not division and mistrust. We’re always stronger when we work together.”
Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia chief executive Mohammad Al-Khafaji told the Herald Sun he knew Asian people were being targeted.
“We know that people of Asian appearance have been experiencing racism in the wake of coronavirus in a whole range of settings, so these reports unfortunately are not surprising,” he said.
“We are deeply concerned that people are being subject to racist behaviour in their places of work.
“Without a national anti-racism strategy we are afraid we will see more of these behaviours and it could be normalised.”
Speaking at the Royal Children’s Hospital Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said an outbreak of coronavirus was more than likely in the coming months and planning ahead was necessary.”
We don’t know how this will evolve and we need to see what the circumstances will be, as Australia is affected more significantly and we need to be adaptable,” he said.
“I think we have to proceed with planning that it (a pandemic) is very likely.
“I don’t want to see us get caught out at all because we think it can be stopped or will probably be stopped.
“I think it’s much, much safer that we proceeded on the basis that it is inevitable and we can and should expect more cases in Australia in the coming weeks or months.”
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Dozens of health experts have been working on the issue full time behind the scenes planning on how the state can respond in a worst-case scenario.
“We have flagged aged care as a really significant area to prioritise, we have had a call with all chief officer and health ministers across jurisdictions and federally that we need a specific aged care plan.”