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Fascinating insights from Greg Mellick's independent report into the coronavirus outbreak at the North-West Regional Hospital in April. Here's a thread of some of the takeaways #politas
Mellick says public health has "long come a poor second" to clinical medicine in Tas, to the extent the state "was not adequately prepared" to deal with COVID-19. PH has "experienced periodic reductions in funding despite increasing demand" #politas
He notes the PH hotline wasn't staffed with trained people, insufficient contact tracing capacity, recommended a complete upgrade of IT systems. As Mr Mellick is saying now live, it's the first time the hospital in Australia has encountered such a situation #politas
Mr Mellick backs the State Government's decision to close both of Burnie's hospitals, saying it was a "major, difficult, but ultimately correct decision", and has praised the efforts of hospital staff in coping with the outbreak #politas
The most interesting part is around the underestimated risk of staff-to-staff transmission, which is how the virus spread. In a stressful situation, staff hugged each other and gathered in close confines in large groups. This was not criticised, just explained #politas
Greg Mellick made 37 recommendations, which the Premier says the Government will adopt all of them either in full or in principle. Here's a link to the full report, btw: http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/564853/Report_-_North-West_Outbreak.pdf #politas
The one part I haven't yet explained is the fear of workers to give submissions to this inquiry. Mellick writes: "a significant
majority of those who wished to make submissions
requested anonymity for fear of retribution", fears he says are not unfounded #politas
majority of those who wished to make submissions
requested anonymity for fear of retribution", fears he says are not unfounded #politas
There's also an element of classic Tasmanian parochialism to all of this: he says it's a long-term problem, with different PPE procedures adopted in different locations and contributing to that fear of retribution among workers #politas
"The current efforts to improve the culture within
the Department of Health must continue and be
enhanced," is Mr Mellick's verdict on that #politas
the Department of Health must continue and be
enhanced," is Mr Mellick's verdict on that #politas
It is important to note though, it could've been a lot worse: , "The outbreak in the North-West was successfully contained. It could have become significantly more widespread, and it is important to not lose sight of this outcome." #politas
Don't expect an easy answer to how it spread so far, so fast. Multiple factors including some workers not taking it seriously early on, staff in close proximity, incorrect or incomplete wearing of PPE and staff working across multiple facilities are just a few reasons #politas
There's so much in this report that I can't sum up in a thread, so read it if you can. I'll leave you with the final stats: 2 Ruby Princess cases, resulting in 138 other cases. 80 of which were staff, 25 patients and 33 others. 10 deaths with 2 more before the coroner #politas
If you can't read the report, just read my colleague @johnstonloretta story! I'll be summing it all up on ABC Northern Tasmania Drive at 4:45PM #politas https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-09/independent-report-into-nw-tas-covid-outbreak-released/12965988
