A union has warned of potentially catastrophic consequences unless Queensland ensures all nurses treating coronavirus patients have masks that actually fit.
The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union has ramped up its year-long battle to improve protective gear and safeguards for staff treating COVID-19 patients in public hospitals.
It welcomed recommendations for a fit-testing audit of personal protective equipment used by frontline nurses in hospitals around the state after lodging a formal dispute with Queensland’s industrial umpire on Wednesday.
“The QNMU will be following the status of these audits very closely, on behalf of our members, our patients and the whole community,” union secretary Beth Mohle said.
Queensland Health is required to report back on the audit findings on April 27, the union said.
Earlier Ms Mohle said the consequences of Queensland Health’s failings “could be catastrophic” and cited the recent transmission of COVID-19 to three nurses and a doctor at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital, sparking a three-day lockdown.
“We did a survey yesterday – just in one hospital and health service. Only 40 per cent of staff who identified as working in a high-risk area said they had been appropriately fit-tested and fit-checked (for PPE),” she said.
“We still haven’t got to the bottom of how they occurred so personal protective equipment is the front line of protection for our members.”
Ms Mohle said some members had reported they were yet to be properly fit tested to ensure items such as masks correctly fit their faces.
Fit checking involves double-checking PPE to make sure it’s being worn as it should be, and that seals on high-filtration masks are intact before and after every shift.
The union said it wrote to Queensland Health before Easter demanding an urgent audit to establish the level of fit testing done so far, and how often fit checking was being done before and after shifts.
Ms Mohle said she got some information from some of Queensland’s 16 hospital and health services on Wednesday morning. Despite the data being incomplete, she said it was very clear there was cause for concern.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath issued a short statement late in the day, acknowledging the importance of the issue now before the commission.
She said Queensland Health would continue to work with the union to ensure staff were working in safe environments.
Earlier on Wednesday, authorities revealed that traces of coronavirus had been detected at Princess Alexandra Hospital’s infectious diseases unit, despite a deep clean a week ago.
Ward 5D remains closed. It was shut late last month when it was found to be at the centre of two clusters that ultimately spread to 23 people.
“It is not unusual for traces to be found that are not contagious,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Wednesday.
“My understanding is that it’s not contagious after a period of time. We need to let the health experts look at the issue and report back about that.”
Australian Associated Press