DenisCOVIDinfoguy, 
Queensland: "Doctors are acquiring RSV, COVID and influenza in the state’s hospitals in rising numbers, sparking the state’s peak medical body to call for urgent action to better protect medics in an already struggling healthcare workforce."
#COVID19 #RSV #Influenza #Queensland @auscovid19
The plea for action comes as new data obtained by The Courier-Mail shows one quarter of all Queensland Health employees were granted special Covid leave last year. A Right to Information request shows that from December 26 2022 to December 24 2023 a total of 29,843 Queensland Health employees took Special Pandemic Leave (SPL). This is 24.7 per cent of Queensland Health’s headcount. The average hours taken per employee was 37.64 hours. The special leave is separate from sick leave. The Australian Medical Association Queensland is so concerned about the numbers of medics catching respiratory illnesses in the last few days the association has written to the Acting Chief Health Officer Assoc Prof Catherine McDougall calling for an overhaul of hospital ventilation and infection testing and safety protocols. “Doctors have advised that Redcliffe and Ipswich EDs are experiencing significant staff absences, with each having up to eight doctors on sick leave in recent days,” AMAQ president Maria Boulton wrote. Dr Boulton said that there have been concerns for some time about the impact of hospital-acquired infections of staff and patients.
“It’s shocking but not surprising to see so many staff having to take time off with Covid. We are still seeing the impact this year, with members telling us about significant staff absences just in recent days due to Covid, influenza, RSV and whooping cough,” she said. “We have not yet had feedback on the Chief Health Officer John Gerrard’s visits to individual hospitals where he was to talk with staff about infection prevention and control. “We need action sooner rather than later. Queensland Health should consider the expert recommendations in Australian and the World Health Organisation’s research published just last month about air quality in public buildings,” the AMAQ chief said. In early January 2023 Dr Gerrard downgraded Covid protocols in the state from amber to green. Amber required masks in health settings. The AMAQ emphasised in the correspondence to the acting CHO that the recent absences were being reported by their members “as staff absences due to illness are not published so we cannot determine if current rates are higher than in previous periods and could be fairly attributed to the current spread of respiratory viruses in the community”. Queensland Health confirmed that the special pandemic leave provisions for Queensland Health staff are influenced by recommendations from the Communicable Disease Network Australia (CDNA).
