More than 8 per cent of Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CQHHS) workers have failed to comply with the COVID-19 vaccination mandate, forcing cuts to surgical, medical and mental health beds.
Key points:
- Almost 4,000 health workers in the state’s public hospitals have provided no evidence of vaccination against COVID-19
- Health Minister Yvette D’Ath says those employees will be sent show-cause notices and be suspended on full pay
- South West Health and Hospital Service has the highest proportion of its workforce in this category, with 10.78 per cent failing to confirm their vaccination
Queensland Health data obtained by the ABC shows that, of the 4,620 employees who work for the service — which runs Rockhampton, Gladstone, Biloela and Emerald hospitals — 385 workers have provided no evidence of having two COVID-19 vaccine shots and are not on leave.
About 136 of them have requested an exemption from the mandate but Queensland Health director-general John Wakefield has made it clear anyone who has not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be allowed to work in a public health facility.
An email from the CQHHS Rockhampton business unit executive director Kerrie-Anne Frakes to staff said the mandate would have a “temporary operational impact to ensure that we are able to safely maintain inpatient services”.
“There has been a great deal of work done by our team leaders, managers and directors this past week to ensure safe service continuity,” the email said.
Ms Frakes said the service would be temporarily required to reduce some surgical, medical and mental health beds and balance “a slight reduction of staff in emergency departments and maternity wards”.
“We don’t, however, believe that these changes will impact the level of care to be provided to our community nor impact the safety of our staff,” she said.
Suspended on full pay
Of the 108,000-strong Queensland Hospital and Health Services workforce, 3,830 — or 3.54 per cent — have provided no evidence of a COVID-19 vaccination and are not on leave.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said this week about 4,000 Queensland Health workers who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 would be sent show-cause notices and be suspended on full pay.
The state is currently served by 16 Hospital and Health Services, independent statutory bodies responsible for delivering public health services in their area.
South West Hospital and Health Service (SWHHS) — which takes in the Roma, St George, Cunnamulla and Charleville hospitals — has the highest percentage of non-complying employees, with 10.78 per cent of the workforce, or 110 employees, out of a total of 1,020.
Other Hospital and Health Services with high rates of workers not vaccinated against COVID-19 include Central West (6.2 per cent), Sunshine Coast (5.33 per cent), Mackay (5.07 per cent), Wide Bay (4.42 per cent) and Gold Coast (4.07 per cent).
In terms of sheer numbers, 561 employees at the Metro North Hospital and Health Service (MNHHS) — which includes the Royal Brisbane and Women’s, The Prince Charles, Redcliffe, Caboolture and Kilcoy hospitals — have failed to comply with the health directive, which equates to 2.45 per cent of the workforce.
The proportion of employees at the Metro South Hospital and Health Service who have failed to comply is slightly higher, at 2.56 per cent (459 workers).
On the Gold Coast, 488 workers have provided no evidence of COVID-19 vaccination and are not currently on leave.
Health vaccination mandate
Deputy Chief Health Officer Peter Aitken said Queensland Health was in the process of contacting unvaccinated health staff.
“All those staff are in the process of being contacted and some of those are in the exemption process and are getting worked through,” he said.
“If they haven’t been directly contacted, the best thing is to talk to the line managers directly.”
He said workers who put in exemption requests and had not been contacted yet would receive full pay for this week.
“After that, the process will continue and it will be individually based, depending on their circumstances,” Dr Aitken said.
But, he warned, this arrangement was for one week only.
“It is only for a week so I would encourage them to follow up,” Dr Aitken said.
|
Total employees |
Unvaccinated staff not on leave |
Percentage of staff |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Total Queensland Health |
114,069 |
4,226 |
|
|
All Hospital and Health Services (HHS) |
108,122 |
3,830 |
3.54% |
|
Cairns and Hinterland HHS |
7,142 |
219 |
3.06% |
|
Central Queensland HHS |
4,620 |
385 |
8.33% |
|
Central West HHS |
462 |
29 |
6.28% |
|
Children’s Health Queensland |
5,278 |
102 |
1.93% |
|
Darling Downs HHS |
6,586 |
222 |
3.37% |
|
Gold Coast HHS |
11,984 |
488 |
4.07% |
|
Mackay HHS |
3,351 |
170 |
5.07% |
|
Metro North HHS |
22,826 |
561 |
2.46% |
|
Metro South HHS |
17,947 |
459 |
2.56% |
|
North West HHS |
884 |
35 |
3.96% |
|
South West HHS |
1,020 |
110 |
10.78% |
|
Sunshine Coast HHS |
8,702 |
464 |
5.33% |
|
Torres and Cape HHS |
1,255 |
47 |
3.74% |
|
Townsville HHS |
7,042 |
169 |
2.4% |
|
West Moreton HHS |
4,998 |
170 |
3.4% |
|
Wide Bay HHS |
4,596 |
203 |
4.42% |
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