This week has been characterised by a lot of pathetic
platitudes and woefully little action from both ScoMo and Dom to apply
vastly more resources to the support of all our health staff during the pandemic. Indeed it has been pretty much from the start Wave 1. What they seem to be doing is conducting a cruel experiment to see when it will break! My view is that "the health system will cope until it doesn't" That time may not be far off at this rate!
This is typical:
Scott Morrison says healthcare system can cope despite warnings of Covid-19 pressure
Scott Morrison has called for people to ‘manage their own health’ as hospital staff and paramedics feel the strain of soaring Covid-19 cases.
January 3, 2022 - 9:20AM
NCA NewsWire
Rising Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations continue to put enormous pressure on parts of Australia’s healthcare system as hospitals grapple with staff shortages and ambulances are delayed.
There are at least 188,000 active coronavirus cases in the country, with almost 2000 people in hospital and almost 150 patients in intensive care, according to the most recent federal government data.
Scott Morrison on Monday insisted the country’s hospitals could cope, saying most people with the Omicron Covid strain would have a much milder illness than with Delta.
The Prime Minister said rising case numbers were part of “the new phase” of the pandemic in which people would need to take responsibility for “managing their own health” at home.
“That doesn’t mean to say it can’t put pressure on the hospital system. It can. And that’s why we’re working very closely with the premiers and chief ministers to make sure those resources are there,” he told Sunrise.
Mr Morrison reiterated NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s recent pleas for people only to call triple-0 in an emergency.
“Having some Covid symptoms is not a medical emergency,” Mr Morrison said.
Australian Paramedics Association NSW delegate Brett Simpson said earlier that surging cases were leading to record call-outs and creating critical delays.
“We’re seeing priority one emergency cases across Sydney and NSW waiting for over an hour for an ambulance to even attend. That is simply unacceptable and untenable,” he said.
Hospitalisations have doubled in NSW in the week since Christmas to more than 1000 patients, with a record 22,577 daily infections reported on Saturday.
Nurses at some of the state’s hospitals have reportedly been offered cash incentives to cancel their annual leave and staff have been begged to take extra shifts.
NSW Health revealed on Friday that health workers classified as close contacts would be permitted to leave self-isolation in “exceptional circumstances” to minimise disruption at hospitals and testing clinics.
Lots more here:
In the last hour I have watched Dom offer thanks to all the health workers and say they are still coping and he is so grateful for their efforts – but yet again there have not been any substantive announcements to try and ease the pressure with active steps to get more staff and improvements in pay and conditions to make the whole work environment just that little more tolerable. The pandemic has been running for two years now and the entire system is exhausted and I fear we may find ourselves soon in the situation where ‘the health system continues to function until it doesn’t’ at which point we will be in a just dreadful situation.
Dom’s attitude is characterised by saying – as per Twitter - what could be seen as the quote of the year: “No one saw it coming”. Whereas I think he meant to say ”I didn't believe the health experts who screamed it is coming.”
The politicians in the last few months seem to have switched to ignoring the “Health Advice” to suggesting – despite rising evidence to the contrary – that the “health system will cope” and we need to just ‘live with it!”
I cannot believe just how callous the behaviour we are seeing from many politicians and I really hope the community will mark them down severely when the elections come due. Surely there is no political downside for a politician to really explicitly maximising the support it offers all components of the health sector while we are in the situation!
As a retired Emergency Department Director at one of the
largest Sydney Hospitals I have a good feel for how they must be suffering and just
hanging on by their fingernails. My thoughts and sympathy is with all those
involved in this awful period! Also, I can't be censored or suppressed by my former employer being well and truly retired!
I really wish I could see a better political response in supporting the health system nationally in all is aspects! A pox on all their houses until they act as they ought!
David.
1 comment:
My estimate is that here in Melbourne, only about 1 in 5 cases are being reported, since testing is just not available at all. For young people in my social networks around the age of 20, the rate of known positives (based on symptoms alone) is more than 1 in 10 and rising rapidly. it's just amazing. And that age group is way it in front of the others, but the others will naturally follow this week. It's going to be a rough ride.
And all the noise around Novak Djokovic, and I just wonder: how on earth can we have a tennis open at all if 1/3 of the population are sick and the rest are isolating? Where's the ball boys and girls going to come from? and all the other support staff.
Actually, most of us here are much more interested in whether the super markets can stay stocked under that kind of pressure. Tennis is kind of theoretical
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