Coronavirus: hospital operator forced to stop some surgeries amid shortage of personal protective equipment
A major Australian not-for-profit hospital operator was forced to cease all non-emergency and non-urgent surgeries this week due partly to depleted stocks of personal protective equipment.
There is currently unprecedented pressure on protective equipment such as masks, gowns, gloves and goggles, which the federal government is trying to address by boosting domestic production, releasing supplies from the national medical stockpile and prioritising access.
Shortages are varying across the healthcare sector. Some providers contacted by the Guardian, such as Northern
Health in Victoria, said they had adequate stocks and voiced no concerns.
But peak bodies like the Australian Medical Association and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation say there are “unacceptable” shortages that are putting pressure on frontline staff.
Scott Morrison on Wednesday announced he would attempt to preserve supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) by banning all non-emergency surgeries in public and private hospitals.
But even before the prime minister’s announcement, one of the country’s biggest Catholic not-for-profit health providers, St John of God Healthcare, said the lack of PPE was a factor in drastic measures it took across its organisation.
St John of God Healthcare runs 24 hospitals and healthcare centres with more than 3,400 beds across the country.
The chief executive, Dr Shane Kelly, said the depletion of its PPE stocks was one of the factors in its decision to stop all non-urgent and non-emergency surgery earlier this week.
He said the PPE was critical during the pandemic in keeping patients, caregivers and visiting medical officers safe, including anaesthetists, surgeons and critical-care specialists.
“We are seeking alternative sources of stocks and putting in place a range of measures to conserve the PPE stock we do have and ensure that it is used correctly,” he told the Guardian.
“We are facing an unprecedented challenge with the coronavirus but it is important that Australians with other critical medical conditions continue to receive high quality care throughout this crisis, particularly given that many of them, including immunocompromised patients, will be more vulnerable to complications from Covid-19.”
The federal government has promised an extra 30m medical masks would be in Australia within two weeks. It has already released stocks from the national medical stockpile, sent in soldiers to assist a domestic plant in doubling its production and issued a call to local manufacturers who may be able to pivot their production into PPE.
The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals
Association’s chief executive, Alison Verhoeven, said there was “clearly” a shortage and that there was awareness, even before Covid-19, that the supply of PPE was not sufficient to meet the full scale of demand across the healthcare system. Strategies were now in place to prioritise PPE to those most in need.
“There’s clearly a shortage, it’s clearly difficult to manage,” she said. “The response is going to be import, local manufacture and triaging of patients so that those most in need get it.”
Reports are also emerging of the theft of PPE from hospitals. In Tasmania, the health minister, Sarah Courtney, asked police to investigate reports of stolen PPE following a complaint from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.
State governments across the country are making attempts to shore up their own stocks of PPE. The Victorian government last week announced it would spend $10m to purchase an extra 100m gloves, 10m masks and 1.5m gowns, on top of whatever it receives from the federal government.
The World Health Organisation has urged nations to lift their domestic production of PPE by 40% and end export controls.