Govt urged to realign budget, boost health-care system amid Covid spike

MEDICAL workers urged the government on Wednesday to realign a hefty sum of the 2021 national budget to address the record-high spike in Covid-19 cases not only in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces but to other regions as well.

In a news statement, the Filipino Nurses United (FNU) said the government should realign P200 billion of the 2021 budget to boost the protection of medical workers in public and private hospitals by allowing these entities to hire more personnel.

The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) earlier reported that some of its members could no longer increase the number of their bed capacity for Covid-19 patients due to lack of additional personnel.

“The country has reached a record high of more than 10,000 daily Covid-19 cases while we, nurses together with the doctors and other health workers are in danger of contracting the Covid-19, too,” FNU said.

“Our hospitals are again full to the rim, understaffing worsens, and we are forced to carry heavier work and patient load with many in our ranks falling sick,” the group added.

Currently, FNU noted that a nurse is now being tasked to handle 12 severe cases in intensive care units (ICU), rather than the ideal ratio of one nurse per one ICU Covid patient.

It noted the government is trying to address this by hiring 42,000 nurses and doctors and deploying them to barangays and public hospitals.

FNU also urged the government to minimize the risk of infection for medical workers by providing them free personal protective equipment, transportation, and accommodation.

It also recommended boosting the morale of the said workers by providing them with a hazard pay, increased salaries, and a paid postvaccination and quarantine leaves.