1000’s of Queensland Well being staff shall be shut out of their workplaces from Monday after failing to adjust to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
Key factors:
- The COVID-19 vaccine has been mandated for the 90,000 Queensland Well being employees who look after sufferers
- Greater than 2,300 employees have sought an exemption from the vaccine
- The Director-Common has warned they’ll quickly be shut out of workplaces, sparking considerations of staffing shortages
Figures offered by the division present greater than 2,300 employees have utilized for exemptions to the mandate.
From November 1, no worker could be allowed to work in a public hospital with out being totally vaccinated, Queensland Well being Director-Common John Wakefield advised employees in an e mail.
Though the numbers symbolize solely a small proportion of the Queensland Well being workforce, well being insiders have expressed considerations about workforce shortages at a time when public hospitals are already extraordinarily stretched.
Dr Wakefield stated the “time for [saying] please” had gone.
“In NSW and Victoria, we’ve got seen the consequences of transmission of COVID-19 to sufferers inside hospitals and the tragic outcomes for these individuals.
“All of us have an obligation to minimise this threat and I intend to take a really agency stance on this crucial security problem.
“It’s with this in thoughts that from 1 November, 2021 there might be no worker working in a facility the place care is offered with out being totally vaccinated.”
Dr Wakefield stated Queensland Well being would proceed to work with employees who had obtained or utilized for an exemption of the necessary vaccination route to search out “various preparations”.
This could embody taking depart, working remotely or being moved into another momentary function.
Unvaccinated staff to anticipate disciplinary motion
Vaccination is remitted for the estimated 90,000 Queensland Well being staff who work in amenities the place care is offered.
“If you have not responded to calls to add your vaccination particulars and haven’t utilized for an exemption, then you aren’t compliant with the requirement to be vaccinated and from 1 November will be unable to enter a facility the place care is offered to undertake your duties,” Dr Wakefield stated.
“You possibly can anticipate to be notified in writing and perhaps the topic of a self-discipline pathway.
The numbers of Queensland Well being staff who stay unvaccinated and haven’t utilized for an exemption is unclear.
As of October 16, Queensland Well being knowledge exhibits 94.4 per cent of staff had obtained not less than one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 88.3 per cent had been totally vaccinated.
Infectious illness doctor Paul Griffin, an affiliate professor on the College of Queensland, stated well being staff had an obligation of care to their sufferers, and different employees, to get vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19.
“Any healthcare staff that are not getting vaccinated, I feel, does set a harmful precedent and a poor instance,” he stated.
Professor Griffin stated there have been only a few “really real medical causes” for well being staff to be exempted from the COVID vaccination mandate.
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