- Joined
- Oct 30, 2014
- Messages
- 36,768
- Points
- 113
S'pore healthcare workers under strain from flu season, Omicron, resignations and insufficient rest: Union
23 Feb 2022
SINGAPORE - Flu season, colleagues quitting, more people getting infected by the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and insufficient rest - all these have put healthcare workers under strain, a healthcare union chief told The Straits Times.
So, it is welcome news that public healthcare workers can now use their hospitalisation leave instead of outpatient sick leave when they are down with acute respiratory infection, said Ms K. Thanaletchimi, president of the Healthcare Services Employees' Union.
The union had made this request so that healthcare workers would not have to take unpaid leave if they run out of sick leave.
On Monday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung wrote a note to public hospital and polyclinic workers, saying that their sick leave can be recorded as hospitalisation leave in the coming days.
Close to 70,000 healthcare workers in the three public health clusters will benefit from this. The policy will be reviewed in March to be in sync with the Covid-19 situation then, said Ms Thanaletchimi.
"We're in a tight situation, that's the honest truth," she said, adding that there are a number of reasons why healthcare workers have been more taxed than usual recently.
"We are really short of staff. They are affected by Omicron, their children and loved ones are affected by Omicron, and they need time off to care for them. It's also flu season."
Healthcare workers have also been called back to work on their rest days, leading to improper and insufficient rest. To make things worse, quite a number of foreign healthcare workers have resigned as well, said Ms Thanaletchimi.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...nations-and-insufficient-rest-union-president
Singapore hospitals coping well, prepared for any surge in Covid-19 cases
JAN 29, 2022,
SINGAPORE - Hospitals here are coping well in spite of the Omicron wave infecting thousands of people daily. Most have resumed business as usual, with all wards open and staff encouraged to take leave.
This is largely because the illness caused by this Covid-19 variant is generally mild, with 99.7 per cent of people having few or even no symptoms.
Ministry of Health data shows that while more than 600 people with Covid-19 are in hospital, only 10 are in the intensive care unit and 46 require oxygen.
A National University Health System (NUHS) spokesman said: "The majority of Covid-19 cases are currently managed in the community, and we will maintain a good bed occupancy rate by referring stable patients to home recovery."
Professor Fong Kok Yong, SingHealth's deputy group chief executive officer, said there are no disruptions to operations at its hospitals - Singapore General Hospital, Changi General Hospital, KK Women's and Children's Hospital and Sengkang General Hospital - even though emergency departments are seeing a gradual increase in respiratory illness and suspected Covid-19 cases.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...well-prepared-for-any-surge-in-covid-19-cases
