HEALTHCARE workers will desert their posts in droves in a pandemic, unless the safety and psychological issues they face are addressed. So say surveys of doctors, nurses and other staff, such as lab techs, secretaries and porters, from around the world.
The worst predictions are for the UK, where as few as 15 per cent of workers would show up in a pandemic (BMC Public Health, ).
Elsewhere, the figures are better but still worrying. Two Australian surveys suggest that 60 to 80 per cent of workers would go to work (BMC Health Services Research, ; The Medical Journal of Australia, vol 187, p 676). Studies in Hong Kong and the US predict an 85 and 50 per cent turnout respectively.
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Existing pandemic plans tend to focus on making sure workers are able to work, by providing transport or training for new roles. But 鈥渙ur study found that willingness to work is the most important factor in absenteeism鈥�, says of the University of Birmingham, UK.
The surveys identify factors likely to increase someone鈥檚 willingness to work. One is feeling valued, which could be especially important for ancillary staff, who are both most likely to say they wouldn鈥檛 work and least likely to feel that their role is essential, says of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, who carried out a US survey (BMC Public Health, ). 鈥淵ou need to build a sense of identity and cohesion.鈥�
But for all healthcare workers, even those not in contact with sick patients, the biggest factor was their safety and that of their families. 鈥淰accination for workers and their families, and to some extent personal protective equipment, would potentially have a massive effect on absenteeism,鈥� says Damery.
In a pandemic, clinical staff would take priority in getting vaccines and drugs, but their families probably wouldn鈥檛, says , an infectious disease expert at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Instead, staff could be offered board away from home.
Offering more money to ancillary staff would do little to encourage them to work, says of St John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan.
