‘Let it rip’ left health system exposed

The Coalition’s “let it rip” approach to COVID-19 condemned vulnerable people to an early death and left understaffed hospitals facing surging rates of illness.

In December 2021, newly minted Premier Dominic Perrottet embarked on a “let it rip” approach to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in NSW.

Backed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Perrottet dropped the state’s last remaining restrictions on mask-wearing, mandatory QR code check-ins and venue capacity limits.

As a result, Omicron ran rampant. Within weeks Perrottet was forced to backtrack and reimpose mandatory mask wearing indoors, density limits and QR code check-ins.

It was too late.

As OzSAGE, an independent, multi-disciplinary group including infectious disease and public health experts, put it, the Coalition’s “let it rip” strategy “condemned many people to death” and placed an enormous strain on an already exhausted health system.

Among those left vulnerable by “let it rip” were patients with cancer and other immunosuppressed people, and those with co-existing health conditions.

Worst hit were nursing home residents, left vulnerable by the Morrison government’s failure to adequately prepare the aged care sector nationwide.

Department of Health and Aged Care data showed Australia’s nursing homes had reported 2055 deaths related to COVID in the first six months of 2022. The number dwarfed the death tolls of 231 in 2021 and 686 in 2020. In NSW, nurses and other healthcare workers were left to clean up Perrottet’s shambolic mess.

AN “ALARMING” BURDEN ON HOSPITALS

Our hospitals, badly understaffed before COVID-19, suddenly had to deal with surging rates of COVID. Emergency departments were overwhelmed and suspected COVID patients mixed with nonCOVID patients over long periods in waiting rooms.

During January 2022, more than 6000 health workers were forced to isolate on a single day.

Six months later, on 15 July, there were still 2719 health workers in isolation across the state.

Exhausted nurses came under intense pressure to work overtime and return to work after shorter isolation. As OzSAGE reported, the burden placed on the public hospital system was “alarming and under-reported”. However, Perrottet and his health minister claimed that hospitals were adequately staffed and “coping” with the strain.

Such cavalier remarks left nurses and midwives rightfully furious, said Shaye Candish, NSWNMA general secretary.

“Their actions and inactions have led us to this. Their persistence in saying the system is coping reveals a complete disregard for the truth,” Shaye said.

“It is outrageous that Dominic Perrottet continues to spin the lie that our public healthcare system is ‘strong’.

“He repeats this lie while nurses and midwives are exhausted, working excessive overtime and hospitals remain short-staffed. Patient care is suffering.” n