The water is on the lips of staff in the elderly care, warns the Federation of Care Professionals (BEFEZO). On the one hand there is a persistent staff shortage, on the other hand the corona crisis is taking its toll. “Conditions are getting more difficult and there is no end in sight,” writes Paul Cappelier, BEFEZO’s president.
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Cappelier cites the poignant example where a demented nursing home resident stepped into the window of his room because he had been quarantined for 15 days due to a corona infection in his ward. The residential care center where the man is staying is not alone in being confronted with a new wave of infections. “80 percent of healthcare professionals have to deal with infections within their facility or geriatric department. Another 44 percent indicate that the chronic shortage of staff is more important in the fourth wave”, according to a BEFEZO survey in which 600 employees in the elderly care were questioned. The combination means that the staff can no longer provide the care they want to provide, a great frustration as Cappelier explains.
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This is what Margot Cloet of Zorgnet/Icuro said this morning about the pressure on the healthcare sector:
Too high work pressure
“All staff members are confronted with major shortages,” said Cappelier. Linked to the corona crisis, this is putting immense pressure on the workplace. “This marathon has been going on for more than 21 months in the elderly care sector without any rest point. And this marathon has to be run again and again in even more difficult conditions with no end in sight.”
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Thanks to vaccinations, the disease course of the elderly is less serious, in a residential care center or geriatric department an infection still causes a lot. For example, an infected person – as well as anyone who came into contact with it – must be quarantined to prevent others from being infected. This in turn creates additional work pressure.
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“As many as 91 percent of healthcare professionals indicate that there are shortages of healthcare professionals or nurses in their services; 71 percent say that the shortage is particularly large. Nearly 90 percent say they urgently need extra support,” says Cappelier. “We are particularly concerned that two-thirds of healthcare professionals indicate that staff have left the facility or department due to excessive work pressure or because they are no longer able to cope mentally and physically.”
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Foreign personnel
The excessive workload is not limited to elderly care. Today, the entire healthcare sector is confronted with the rising corona figures. For example, it was decided yesterday that hospitals must postpone all non-urgent care by two weeks. This is stated in a circular from the Hospital & Transport Surge Capacity Committee, the consultative body of the government, the hospitals and the experts. The committee also asks hospitals to reopen closed beds in intensive care units. During the crisis meeting, it was even suggested to bring foreign healthcare personnel to our country to be able to master the fourth wave.
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