Vaccination success was driven by smart planning

For DHA, It was crucial to preserve the morale of its entire health care staff – the nurses, doctors, administrative and other ancillary team members. Each one of them was involved in the management of the pandemic.”

In its battle against Covid-19, the UAE has topped vaccination figures globally with 79 per cent of its population being given both doses of the vaccine. Dr Farida Al Khaja, CEO at DHA’s Clinical Support Services and Nursing Sector, Chairperson of the Covid -19 Vaccination Steering Committee and who led the drive in Dubai, says it was not just about dealing with the logistical challenges involved, but also on keeping up the morale of the staff.

From the time of the outbreak of the coronavirus, the key issue was to optimise the use of available nursing and ancillary staff.

Dr Al Khaja said: Staff management was critical. We had to have a proper plan to redistribute them, tweak their working hours, change shifts and even recalculate their ratio based on the requirements of regular hospitals, field hospitals and clinics. To ensure seamless working, we had to do several recalculations so that they were available to serve the patients in need of critical care.”

She said the welfare of the nursing staff was the priority and all help was extended to them.

“For DHA, it was crucial to preserve the morale of its entire health care staff — the nurses, doctors, administrative and other ancillary team members. Each one of them was involved in the management of the pandemic. Our human resources department devised programmes that were empathetic to our staff. We took definite action to bring relief to them. Among other things, we took care of their families in their absence as they were required to work for long hours in the hospital. We even took their loved ones to hospitals if they were sick.”

She said the DHA ensured many of the staff were provided hotel accommodation when they were required to work for long hours and feared exposure to the virus despite all precautions. “We were empathetic to their needs. Wherever possible, we made sure that the families of our nursing staff were not falling short of necessities at home. We functioned as one cohesive family, taking care of each other and keeping ourselves safe. This helped them work with focus and deliver their services in the best way.”

Dr Farida Al Khaja | CEO, Clinical Support Services and Nursing Sector, DHA

The DHA ensured many of the staff were provided hotel accommodation when they were required to work for long hours and feared exposure to the virus despite all precautions.

Training health care workers

In many cases, nurses from different departments found themselves working with Covid-19 patients where they had no experience.

DHA had prepared for this eventuality by providing all such nurses with relevant training in handling medical equipment, diagnostic tools and medicines within the Covid-19 wards.