No vaccine date for 'frustrated' Nenagh Hospital frontline staff

Nurses and medical staff at Nenagh Hospital want to know when their vaccine programme will start.

Medical staff at Nenagh Hospital in Tipperary still do not know when their vaccine programme will begin and have said how frustrated they are to see non-frontline staff getting the precious shots.

One nurse said: “This is a message for the Government, for Micheál Martin and Stephen Donnelly, to know why aren’t we being vaccinated? Why have we been left out?” 

The nurse, speaking at the start of a shift working with Covid patients in a video circulated on social media added: “We are so angry, we are scared, we are afraid. We can see our co-workers going down with Covid and becoming very ill.” 

And she was critical of a contentious vaccine programme for staff at the private Beacon HealthCare hospital.

It emerged on Wednesday that even though this hospital group has not signed a general agreement with the HSE for sharing facilities, the hospital is being used as a mass vaccination centre for healthcare workers. Beacon staff are being vaccinated as part of this move.

A second nurse said that she is “infuriated” the staff have not yet been given even a date for their first vaccine shot.

“Our co-workers are going down at a rate that is unbelievable, we are so sacred,” she said.

A consultant at the hospital said his team is treating a high number of Covid patients this week. He said: “I request the Government to take immediate steps to get a vaccine for us.” 

And a doctor supported his colleagues, saying he is also working with Covid patients. He asked: “Staff who are not frontline are getting it, why aren’t we?” 

A number of staff who did not identify their roles also raised concerns. One woman said staff shortages are becoming critical due to people out ill with Covid or isolating because they are a close contact.

NENAGH FRONTLINE STAFF APPEAL FOR VACCINE ROLL OUT
Frontline Staff at Nenagh General Hospital have released a video this morning appealing for the Government and HSE to vaccinate their staff who are treating Covid patients everyday.
Fran is discussing it on Tipp Today pic.twitter.com/bgZRSAX5ul

— Tipp FM (@TippFM) January 15, 2021

She warned: “If we do not get this vaccine, we are outnumbered [on the] patient to staff ratio.” And a male healthcare worker said: “It is really frustrating.” 

Nenagh General Hospital is part of the UL Hospital Group. The vaccination programme started across the group on January 4. 

A spokesman for Limerick Hospital group said their schedule has focused on frontline staff, but added: “A small number of staff in these priority areas remain to receive their first dose.” About 20 staff will shortly receive their first vaccine shot at Nenagh hospital.

The spokesman said: “The rollout of the vaccination programme in UHL, Ennis and University Maternity Hospital Limerick predated the current outbreak of Covid-19 in Nenagh Hospital.

“We recognise the anxiety being experienced by staff in Nenagh and staff across the Group as we experience a significant surge in Covid-19 activity. We will extend the vaccination programme to Nenagh Hospital as soon as the national delivery schedule allows.” The hospital is distributing the vaccines based on a mix of availability, national guidance and clinical priorities, he insisted.

“Currently, we are prioritising staff in Intensive Care and High Dependency Units, in our emergency care and COVID admission pathways, and on our COVID-positive wards,” he said.

Up to Wednesday 2,736 jabs were given mainly in Limerick hospital, the maternity hospital and Ennis as well as in smaller numbers at Nenagh, Croom and St John’s Hospitals.

Some community staff and paramedics have also started their vaccines.