Care workers fear for safety without PPE

The E tū and PSA unions are calling on the Ministry of Health to ‘‘stop and listen’’ to home care support workers who fear they will become vectors for Covid-19 without appropriate PPE.

Union members say the vinyl gloves issued by the Ministry of Health roll up and tear easily, but the ministry says the gloves are appropriate for the work they do and that infection prevention and control information is being sent out to help workers understand the level of PPE they need.

The unions have been trying to raise the issue with the ministry for more than a month, saying the food-grade gloves workers have been receiving for the past four months aren’t safe; and waiting for a positive Covid-19 case before home and community support workers are given medical-grade PPE is too late.

Balclutha care and support worker Samantha McMillan worked in bowel care and said she sometimes wore three pairs of the gloves, but it did not protect her from faeces and bodily fluids.

‘‘I had to clean up an accident last week, and it got everywhere. Inside two pairs of gloves. It was a disaster.’’

She wondered how the same gloves would protect here and her clients from Covid-19 in the community when she was visiting 10 to 18 homes a day.

‘‘You would never see a healthcare worker in a hospital or GP practice wearing food gloves – it’s totally unthinkable,’’ she said.

E tū industry council representative Pam King, who is based in Invercargill, said support workers weren’t always notified if someone had been tested for Covid-19 or asked to isolate – sometimes finding out hours after they had visited the client.

‘‘This is what we’re getting caught out with. I’ve personally been put in this situation myself. It’s quite scary, actually,’’ she said.

Home and Community Health Association chief executive Graeme Titcombe, PSA assistant secretary Melissa Woolley and E tū director Kirsty McCully wrote to the Ministry of Health’s national lead for PPE and critical medical supply on November 9, asking for changes to the supply of PPE.

‘‘...We are not prepared to be fobbed off as if we are merely some second-class appendix to health services unable to appropriately judge the appropriateness of equipment we utilise every day,’’ the three wrote.

They believed workers should be supplied with PPE in advance, rather than having to contact their district health board when a client tests positive.

‘‘We are frustrated that two different standards appear to apply to the DHB Community workforce and the Home and Community sector undertaking close personal contact with clients,’’ the group wrote.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said the workers’ concerns were raised with its Infection Prevention and Control Technical Advisory Group who advised the gloves were safe for personal care use – like showering or bathing.

‘‘As previously discussed and communicated with the sector, such work does not always indicate a need for gloves. Gloves are only required if there is potential for exposure of the hands to blood and body fluids, mucous membranes, or broken skin,’’ the spokesperson said, adding that hand hygiene remains the most important step to prevent infection.