Sign up now for ease of access to The Medical Independent, Ireland’s most frequently published medical newspaper, delivering award-winning news and investigative reporting.
Established in 2010, along with its sister publication The Medical Independent, our stated aim is to investigate and analyse the major issues affecting healthcare and the medical profession in Ireland. The Medical Independent has won a number of awards for its investigative journalism, and its stories are frequently picked up by national digital, broadcast and print media. The Medical Independent is published by GreenCross Publishing.
Address: Top Floor, 111 Rathmines Road Lr, Dublin 6
Tel: 353 (01) 441 0024
GreenCross Publishing is owned by Graham Cooke.
Doctors made up 5.2 per cent of the Covid-19 cases among healthcare workers (HCWs) notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) during the second half of September, according to recent data from the centre.
Females HCWs account for nearly three quarters of the total number of HCWs who have got Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic (74.2 per cent).
According to the HPSC, there were 233 HCWs notified to the computerised infectious disease reporting (CIDR) system in the 14-day period between 15 September and 28 September.
Over half of these HCWs, 125 (53.6 per cent) are reported as residing in Dublin. A total of 12 doctors were registered as having Covid-19, which was 5.2 per cent of the total number of HCWs Covid-19 for this period during the second half of last month.
Nurses made up the highest number of HCWs with 63 cases during this period, which is 27 per cent of the total during this period.
There was a total of 36,217 Covid-19 cases reported as of 28 September; of this number, 9,225 were healthcare workers (HCWs).
This figure represents just over a quarter of the total (25.5 per cent).
The total number of deaths of HCWs during the pandemic is eight, with the HPSC noting that this comprised “seven confirmed and one probable Covid-19 case.”
Some 332 HCWs have been hospitalised with Covid-19 since the beginning of the outbreak, according to the HPSC figures.
Of the total number of HCWs who have got Covid-19, just under three quarters (74.2 per cent) were female.
“The proportion of females is disproportionately high among HCWs Covid-19 cases compared to non-HCW Covid-19 cases (48.5 per cent),” according to the HPSC.
“[This is]most likely due to some HCW specialities e.g. nursing, being female dominated.”
Also, this month the PRECISE study begins which will look at rates of previous Covid -19 infections in healthcare workers in St James’s Hospital, Dublin and University Hospital Galway.
“It will help the health services to broadly estimate the number of healthcare workers that may have some degree of immunity to Covid-19 infection and those that are still at risk of contracting the virus,” Dr Lorraine Doherty, HSE National Clinical Director for Health Protection said of the study.
“It will identify the proportion of healthcare staff who have the antibodies present but were asymptomatic and therefore possible unaware of their exposure to the virus. All of the information gained from this study will ultimately help the health services prepare for increasing number of cases.”
Consultant-led virtual Fracture Assessment Clinics (vFAC), commonly used to manage fractures in patients, is improving outcomes...
The IMO has commenced a ballot of NCHDs on industrial action up to and including strike...
The ICGP is examining alternative pathways for entry into general practice training as part of efforts...
In December, the HSE released part of an external review into the case of 'Brandon', a...
The evidence on doctor burnout “should scare us and concern us”, the Director of the RCSI...
A review of public health governance structures and addressing “longstanding” IT infrastructure...
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.