'Exhausted and traumatised': Group says women on the frontline can take the strain no longer

An all-island group of women working in a range of areas including medicine, health care, psychology, law, and advocacy say healthcare frontlines can no longer take the strain of the pandemic without further resources. Picture: iStock

The Covid Women’s Voices group has said women working on the healthcare frontlines can no longer take the strain without proper resources and a complete rethink about how to combat the virus.

The all-island group of women who work in areas including medicine, health care, psychology, law, academia, and advocacy, says increased staffing and efforts to detect Covid clusters is essential, as well as increased quarantine and supervision and greater supports for vulnerable groups, such as those in direct provision.

In an open letter, signed by 40 members of the group, which appears in Wednesday's Irish Examiner, the Covid Women’s Voices group says women are "disproportionately bearing the burden of a pandemic that has heralded untold grief and wrought economic havoc" and that the third lockdown has illustrated "the inequalities, including structural, social and economic barriers, still faced by women".

"Our largely female healthcare force, facing dual challenges in the workplace and at home, can only absorb so much of the societal and economic shocks of Covid-19," it says.

Dr Sharon Lambert of the School of Applied Psychology, UCC, one of the 40 signatories of the letter published by the Irish Examiner on Wednesday. Picture: Denis Minihane

"Women working in healthcare can no longer take the strain of carrying the burden of providing essential medical services, in the absence of childcare, whilst supervising homeschooling and caring for vulnerable family members at home.

"We are exhausted and, in many cases, traumatised by the perils of treating this disease and watching patients suffer and die. 

"Many of our number have had to leave the frontline, many unlikely to return, owing to the near-impossible task of juggling commitments, and the emotional distress sustained on the frontline, resulting in large scale burnout."

The group says losing healthcare workers to burnout is an indictment of the "State’s failure to recognize the challenges facing us, and their failure to support us in our vital roles". 

"Around the country, many healthcare workers feel abandoned by the State as they place their lives, literally, on the line for their patients and for the health and security of the wider economy."

The group says lockdowns have failed as a response to the virus and an alternative approach is needed.

"Based on our multiple fields of expertise we believe that significant, targeted resources, justified in the public interest, are required to avoid a fourth lockdown," the letter says, advocating supports such as available childcare and permission for care workers in direct provision to work.

It says public health investment — such as improved IT systems and increased staffing — are required to allow rapid identification and containment of indigenous clusters of Covid 19, as well as "supervision, enforcement and practical support for those — including inbound travellers — who need to be quarantined, with requisite supports and supervision for close contacts".

It also says special supports for those in crowded accommodation, including members of the Traveller/Mincéir and Roma communities and those in direct provision are needed, along with "direct engagement with vulnerable communities to provide information and support around the suppression of Covid-19".

Members of the group include Dr Gabrielle Colleran, consultant pediatric radiologist, Dr Sharon Lambert, applied psychologist, and Dr Hilary McLoughlin, consultant in respiratory and general medicine at Portiuncula Hospital.

The letter concludes: "It is inconceivable that the voices of women, who are now the majority in Ireland, are not being sufficiently heard on these critical issues. But they must be heard. Because we can’t do another wave. And you can’t do it without us."