Respect local health staff

•   Scottsdale’s North-East Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital.

By Tony Scott,
August 04, 2021

Doctors and the Health Department have called for the public to respect health protocols and hospital staff doing their job in enforcing them.

It follows reports that some staff, including at Scottsdale’s North-East Soldiers Memorial Hospital, have been abused when insisting that visitors or patients for day procedures wear a mask. 

The chief executive of Hospitals North/North West, Eric Daniels, urged the Dorset community to support staff who are working hard to protect vulnerable patients by enforcing the statewide requirement for all visitors to wear a face mask.

“As part of Tasmania’s response to protect the community and vulnerable patients in our hospitals in particular, a regulation was put in place in July requiring all visitors to public hospitals across the State, including patients attending Emergency Departments and other outpatient departments like Radiology, to wear a mask.

“This applies to any visitor or arriving patient aged 12 or over.” 

Mr Daniels said there were some exemptions if there were a medical certificate or other documentation from a medical practitioner of a physical, mental health, illness, condition or disability that makes wearing a mask unsuitable. 

That documentation should be carried by anyone entering a public hospital without a mask.

There are also restrictions on visitor numbers and visiting hours. At present visiting is limited to one visitor per patient at a time. 

All visitors must also undergo health screening at the hospital entrance.

“I understand not everyone is happy with the current restrictions but we are living in challenging times.

“Hospital staff are doing their very best in extraordinary circumstances and need to be supported by their communities.

“The requirement for hospital visitors to wear masks and to undertake health screening on entry relates to all public hospitals and not just the one at Scottsdale,” he said.

The Tasmanian secretary of the Rural Doctors Association Ben Dodds reinforced the Department’s view.

Scottsdale-based Dr Dodds said the protocols hadn’t just been dreamt up, but had been introduced by Public Health for a reason.

“Statistics have shown health settings, like hospitals, are high risk.

“Given what’s been happening in NSW, Melbourne and Queensland these measures are totally reasonable.”      

“You never know where Covid is going to pop up and this Delta strain is highly transmissible.

“It can be passed on in just fleeting contact of 10 seconds or less, so these protocols are all about mitigating the risks.

Dr Dodds said it had been a stressful 18 months for health professionals.

“It would be really disappointing if people flouting the rules and abusing staff became widespread.”

In more welcome news he pointed to statistics released by the Federal Government revealing that the Launceston and North-East statistical area was leading the nation for people over 15 who have been fully vaccinated with 27 per cent of the population.

The proportion of those who have received one shot is also in the top handful at just over 50per cent.

State Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff thanked the community for the response to the pandemic.  

“We are confident that every eligible Tasmanian will have the chance to get vaccinated in coming months.

“We continue to work with GPs, roll out more clinics to remote communities, recruit more vaccinators, and will soon welcome more than 20 pharmacies to our effort,”
Mr Rockliff said.