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SIPTU expresses concern over rising number of health workers testing positive for COVID-19
SIPTU Health representatives have today (Wednesday, 25th March) expressed concerns over the increase in the number of health workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 virus. The numbers confirmed by the Department of Health indicate that health care workers make up 26% of all cases identified in the State.
SIPTU Divisional Organiser, Paul Bell, said: “The official figures show that health care workers make up 26% of all COVID-19 cases so far identified by public health officials. 63% of these cases were not travel related and the median age is 45 years old for those infected. SIPTU members have said that the numbers are related to the availability of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). Our members are reporting that PPE is not readily available to all health workers in the quantities required. This issue must be given high priority as some hospital departments are now telling SIPTU representatives that stock rooms have no PPE left and health workers are resorting to re-using equipment normally only fit for single use. This situation is entirely unacceptable.”
Paul Bell also called on the Government to urgently review its approach to testing all health workers for COVID-19 regularly.
“While we are not being critical of the Government’s efforts to lead the country through this crisis we must express the deep concerns of our members. If we are to learn from the experiences of other countries which have successfully combatted the coronavirus surge in hospitals it must be to ensure the health and safety of all workers caring for COVID-19 patients.
“In other health services such as those in South Korea and Hong Kong, the coronavirus has been more effectively contained with the frequent testing of all health workers through a dedicated monitoring system. This can ensure that the virus does not spread more widely and that the maximum number of health workers are available for duty 100% of the time.”
He added: “Getting these critical elements of COVID-19 control right can only help public health officials bring this public health emergency to an earlier end.”
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Thank you to all our #FrontlineHeroes
The spread of the COVID-19 virus has created profound uncertainty over the health and financial security of working people and their families across the island. Our members are deeply concerned with the effects of this crisis on their jobs and families.
We want you to know that your Union is in your corner and that we will stand with you through all challenges that will emerge over the coming weeks and months.
This national emergency we are all facing requires all our efforts and team work to ensure that our health service operates to its maximum in the defence of our citizens and communities.
During this emergency, the principles of social justice and solidarity, upon which this Union is founded, must be applied if we are to ensure that our society overcomes, and recovers from, this unprecedented public health crisis.
Our members, working in health, deliver quality services and provide vital expertise across all grades. In these challenging times, our members are demonstrating tremendous courage and determination in service of our country. Our 42,000 health service members, in all grades, are the frontline defence of our nation’s health and are caring for the most vulnerable in our society who need of our support, assurance and care.
You are our #FrontLineHeroes
Regular communication and accurate information is crucial in any crisis to support our members. SIPTU Health Division has set up a new information line to deal with any specific COVID-19 workplace queries.
Our SIPTU Health Division App will also be regularly updated. We would encourage you to download it today.
The COVID-19 outbreak will test each and every one of us, but we are confident that by working together and supporting each other, we can beat this.
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St Patrick’s Day Message from President Michael D. Higgins
“May I, on this St. Patrick’s Day 2020, send my warmest greetings as Uachtarán na hÉireann, President of Ireland, to all our extended family across the world and indeed to all those interested in matters Irish.
Wherever you may be, and in whatever circumstances, as part of Ireland’s global family you will be joining with us as we celebrate the feast day of our patron saint, and the culture ancient and contemporary, the heritage and history that connects us.
The 17th of March is a day when we recall the life of St. Patrick, his transformative spirit, and the enormous legacy he has left behind as exile, migrant and apostle. Today, as the world faces the global spread of the coronavirus we are called more than ever to follow the values embodied in the story of St. Patrick.
Those values of solidarity and concern for the well-being of our fellow citizens will play a fundamental role in our effective confronting of the challenge with which we are now presented. It is a challenge that calls on the tradition and practice of our communities working together, recognising the needs of all their members, and in particular those who are most vulnerable.
So often, as President of Ireland, I have been inspired and uplifted by the generous spirit of unity that I have witnessed in communities across the country. I have seen so many examples of care and compassion where communities have come together to look after their elderly and sick, and to ensure the welfare of those who are vulnerable and marginalised.
That spirit, I have no doubt, will come very much to the fore during this difficult time, which will require generous and compassionate citizenship as we work to keep all members of our community safe. We must remember, of course, that we are also citizens of a wider global community. St Patrick’s Day has become a profound expression of a common history that extends far beyond Irish shores, and of the strong bonds we share with our wider global family despite the miles, borders and oceans that may separate us.
As members of that global community we must commit to working in a spirit of solidarity and co-operation, joining with citizens across the world in fighting this global health emergency. On this day when we celebrate the feast of our patron saint, Patrick, let us draw on the best of our Irishness in order to create a safer future for ourselves and all those who live on our shared, vulnerable, planet.
On behalf of the people of Ireland, I extend a hand of friendship across the globe to all those who are Irish by birth, descent or association, and to all those who have assisted our Irish people, or who simply have an interest in things Irish. I wish you, and all those who form part of the Irish family, a happy and peaceful St. Patrick’s Day.”
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Together, we will beat this
The outbreak of COVID-19 is hitting workers and communities hard across Europe. Stories and tweets from health workers under siege in the overwhelmed hospitals of Northern Italy are distressing for us all.
Across the world, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds are filling up, medical equipment, devices and supplies and personal protective equipment are being stretched. Ambulance professionals, firefighters, workers in the services industries including retail workers, public transport and aviation workers, and home care workers, are all doing jobs that bring them into constant contact with the public, making them, and those around them, more vulnerable.
For most, it is simply not an option to work from home as they are keeping our productions, services and supply chains going and our country moving.
Tens of thousands of SIPTU members in the private sector and public service are working during this unprecedented and evolving public health crisis. Our members, from the frontlines of our public services to factory floors making our food and keeping food supplies going, are pulling together and showing real leadership during these extremely challenging times.
SIPTU members are manufacturing critical medical devices that are saving lives every day. One out of every two ventilators are made right here in Ireland. Our members working in the pharmaceutical sector are manufacturing the prescription drugs and over the counter medications for millions of people the world over.
As a union, SIPTU is working to ensure that the necessary steps to protect workers, communities and families are taken and this crisis is not used to erode workers’ rights.
We will continue to work to ensure that essential services are maintained while the schools, colleges, creches and other public institutions are closed, and that the redeployment of public service staff prioritises the most critical frontline services. We have stressed the need for sustainable childcare support and facilities to make sure that our members can continue to lead our collective efforts to battle the coronavirus and restore our nation’s health.
Many workers in the private sector, including retail, hospitality, construction, manufacturing, arts and culture, and other services are facing uncertainty if they contract, or come in to contact, with the virus, as many employers do pay sick pay.
In response to trade union campaigning, the Government announced a new COVID-19 related Illness Benefit at a higher rate of €305 per week, to be paid from day one for workers. While this was welcomed, private sector workers and workers who are releant on social welfare benefits at this time will struggle to pay bills, rent and mortgages.
Creches, colleges and other workplaces may re-open on the 29th March but it is possible that the period of closure will extend further. However, what we do collectively over the coming weeks will play a huge part in how we as a community get through this crisis.
SIPTU members are encouraged to continue to play their part in containing the disease by accessing and following reliable up-to-date information, washing hands properly and frequently, maintaining social distancing and self-isolating, if required.
While taking all the necessary measures required by public health authorities to deal with the COVID-19 emergency, SIPTU will remain fully operational in order to represent your interests and to provide you with the full range of organisational supports.
The Workers’ Rights Centre and its Lo-Call helpline (1890 747 881) will continue to operate and to provide support to members.
A dedicated help line and email for SIPTU Health Division members will be available from Monday 16th March. Details will be posted on social media.
The outbreak of COVID-19 shines a light on how interconnected humanity really is. And while, when all this is said and done, some will demand stricter border controls and use this crisis to stoke the fires of xenophobia what this crisis really show us is that Europe and the world needs more co-operation and solidarity not isolation and scapegoating.
Together, we are stronger and together we will beat this.
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COVID-19 notice to SIPTU Health members
While taking all the necessary measures required by public health authorities to deal with the COVID-19 emergency, your Union remains fully operational in order to represent your interests and to provide you with the full range of organisational supports.
SIPTU Health Industrial Organisers and staff will be available to members and can be reached through existing telephone and email contacts. SIPTU offices, including Liberty Hall, will remain open although meetings should be arranged by appointment.
The Workers Rights Centre and its Lo-Call helpline (1890 747 881) will continue to operate and to provide support to members.
We would like to express our appreciation for your co-operation during this time of emergency and to ask you to adhere to the health and safety advice of the Health Service Executive and other properly informed agencies.
A further communication to members, shop stewards and activists will be issued in the coming days.
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Advanced paramedic on collecting samples for Covid-19 tests
THE decision to use the ambulance service to collect samples from households around the country in a bid to combat the spread of Covid-19 is unprecedented, according to advanced paramedic Richard Quinlan, chief ambulance officer for the North Leinster region, who has paid tribute to the outstanding work being undertaken by frontline health service staff in the battle to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Read full article here
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Advice for health staff
All of us in SIPTU and across the nation are hugely grateful to the large number of health and welfare staff, of all grades, whose job means they are – or could be – in contact with people who have the coronavirus.
We appreciate that this puts you at higher risk than most, and we value and admire the exceptional contribution you’re making in this crisis.
The HSE has issued various guidelines for workers in this situation, including this on ‘healthcare worker management by occupational health.’
It says staff should not be rostered to work with coronavirus patients if they don’t have appropriately-fitting personal protective equipment (PPE). And they should be trained in the proper use of PPE.
It also says pregnant staff, and those with a medical vulnerability, should not be rostered to work with coronavirus patients if they have indicated a desire to be redeployed.
The guidance identifies some basic steps required to prevent the transmission of the virus in healthcare settings.
These include instruction and training about the virus, modes of transmission and the measures staff should take to protect themselves.
It also says employers should provide a safe work environment including through the provision of appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE). It identifies the need for training and staff competency in coronavirus-related infection control practices and procedures, including the proper use and disposal of PPE.
It says managers are responsible for:
- Providing adequate resources for the prevention and management of coronavirus
- Advising staff about the terms and conditions of sick leave and special leave with pay
- Identifying staff in contact with confirmed cases of Covid-19 and referring any possible close contacts to Occupational Health for contact tracing
- Maintaining and providing access to contact packs within the clinical and hospital settings,
- And redeploying pregnant or immunocompromised staff from direct contact with confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19 if the person has requested this.
It says staff must:
- Follow the guidance provided by Occupational Health, Public Health and their manager.
- Immediately act to self-isolate if they have been identified as a contact and become unwell at work, and inform their manager and Occupational Health so that appropriate testing can be arranged.
The guidance also covers a range of other issues including the management of exposure in the workplace, the management of contacts and close contacts, self-quarantine, the role of Occupational Health, and health workers returning from abroad.
The HSE has also published professional guidance for healthcare professionals.
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Podcast: Health workers raise Covid-19 concerns
SIPTU Divisional Organiser Paul Bell speaking on the Coronavirus concerns of frontline health workers, in particular ambulance professionals. Source: RTE Radio
Listen and share.
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Coronavirus: Watch how germs spread
Coronavirus has been seen in more than 30 countries. The virus can spread from person to person and officials recommend simple steps to avoid becoming infected.
Dr Adele McCormick from the University of Westminster demonstrated how germs spread and what the best methods are to avoid catching a virus.
Source – BBC World Service
