By Alesha Capone
Mercy Health has reassured the community that it is working to ensure Werribee Mercy Hospital staff have access to protective personal clothing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Mercy Health spokesperson last week said that personal protective equipment (PPE) “is an essential resource for the health and safety of our employees, patients, residents and clients as we respond to the outbreak of coronavirus”.
“Mercy Health is currently managing its use of PPE in the face of national and global shortages of these items.
“We are working closely with the state and federal governments to ensure we have access to the required levels of PPE as they become available.”
Lalor MP Joanne Ryan has written to the federal Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, highlighting the need for PPE for local health and aged care workers during the pandemic.
The letter stated that Werribee Mercy Hospital was “struggling to access the personal, protective equipment it requires”.
“Similarly, our local aged care facilities are struggling to source PPE for workers, again this is critical for staff safety and resident and family assurance,” the letter stated.
Star Weekly also spoke to an anonymous source earlier this month, who said that on one particular day, staff within Werribee Mercy’s Hospital’s palliative care unit only had access to three face masks and one gown.
The source said that it was believed the masks and gowns, along with items such as hand sanitiser, were being stolen from the hospital.
Greg Hunt last week announced that the federal government would provide 11 million masks to healthcare workers across the country.
Seven million masks will go to hospitals, 1.5 million to GP clinics and 1.7 million to the aged care industry.
Mr Hunt said the government has also ordered a further 500 million masks.
