S1 E8: The System is Sick

01/25/22 • 23 min

Resolve - Stories from a Stop Start Nation

While our federal and state leaders insist that our health system is robust and coping with the Omicron outbreak, our health workers are sending grim messages that make it clear that the cracks which already existed in staff ratios and resourcing are now buckling under the pressure. We speak to young NSW father Alex Moir, whose wife Mel, a trained midwife, gave birth at home and had to keep her unresponsive baby alive as they rushed themselves to hospital after no ambulance could be found to take them. We then hear from a Covid ward nurse and Michael Whaites from the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association as we explore what's gone wrong, the strain our health care workers are enduring, and what can be done to keep our health system from being washed away by the "let it rip" strategy of pandemic management.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

S1 E7: The Farmer Wants a Hand

Agriculture isn't the first industry that comes to mind as having been dealt a blow from the COVID-19 crisis. After all, it has been deemed essential from the start; with farmers, workers, and contractors able to continue their work, for the most part, unimpeded.

But as we’ve discovered, no one has escaped from this pandemic. As soon as the international borders shut we noticed the crippling absence of workers from overseas who we relied on to fill the gaps that our local workforce could not.

Both skilled and unskilled workers went home, or couldn’t enter the country, and it revealed a large hole in the industry that farmers and contractors have desperately been trying to fill ever since.

We speak to to sheep shearers, fruit farmers, and industry experts to unpack the issue of staff shortages in the agriculture industry during Covid.

This is the last episode of Resolve for 2021 - we'll be back in mid January 2022 with new stories. Have a suggested topic we should cover? Reach out at [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

S1 E9: Aged Care: Locked in, Locked Out

The decision to let the Omicron variant of Covid-19 "rip" has had a devastating impact on Australia's Aged Care system. We speak to an impacted resident, an experienced aged care nurse who has seen the decline of the sector over the last 50 years, and experts that say that all of this was foreseeable - and preventable.

Our guests for this episode include Dr Sarah Russell of Aged Care Matters and Michael Whaites from the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association. You can find out more about Aged Care Matters at https://www.agedcarematters.net.au/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.