The state government has brought in the measure due to the number of healthcare workers either diagnosed with Covid or forced to isolate as close contacts.It’s estimated more than 4000 workers are off work at the moment.Deputy Premier James Merlino said the “code brown” would likely last four to six weeks.“We’ve been saying for some time that our hospital system is under extreme pressure and the risks we’re seeing now in hospitalisations are testament to that,” he told reporters on Tuesday.“We’ve reached a point in our health system where it’s juggling severe workforce shortages.”The “code brown” has been activated for all hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne, as well as at Barwon Health, Grampians Health, Bendigo Health, Goulburn Valley Health, Albury Wodonga Health and Latrobe Regional Hospital.Under the measure, hospitals will be able to defer non-urgent services and cancel planned leave for staff, as well as redeploy workers.Services will also be changed to free-up staff, including the delivery of outpatient services outside of the hospital, meaning workers may perform different roles.Health services will also be able to prioritised offloading ambulance patients at emergency departments to get paramedics on the road.
Powered by WPeMatico
