Steve Irons' older brother Jim was only supposed to be in hospital for a short while. A retired stockman from Maryborough, Queensland, Jim was diagnosed with leukaemia just before Christmas in 2022. He was flown to Brisbane for testing, then back to Maryborough Hospital, where doctors were putting together a plan for him to be treated at home.
Health departments insist the risk of catching COVID cannot be eliminated completely, and that hospitals maintain stringent measures to prevent infections and manage outbreaks.
COVID is too often being treated by hospitals as a common cold when it should be treated as seriously as tuberculosis, Dr Andrew Miller says.For Andrew Miller, a Perth-based anaesthetist and chair of OzSAGE, an independent advisory group of experts in epidemiology, health and economics, a major problem is that COVID is too often being treated by hospitals as a "common cold" when it should be treated as seriously as.
They do, however, prevent a lot of transmission. Studies from before and during the pandemic suggest masking among healthcare workers can reduce hospital-acquired respiratory viral infectionswhen both an infectious person and a susceptible person wear them. Yet many hospitals have scaled back masking requirements, even during COVID surges over summer, with staff allowed to wear surgical masks in clinical areas or no respiratory protection at all.And patients are watching closely.
A St Vincent's spokesperson told ABC News the hospital has "strict infection prevention and control measures in place" and that their PPE guidelines were based on a clinical risk assessment . "St Vincent's apologises to Mr Crane and recognises that his experience prior to attending his appointment did not meet expectations," they said. "We strive to provide personalised care and value patient feedback so that we can continuously improve our services.