Healthcare workers continue to struggle to get hold of personal protective equipment and fear they may be facing even more shortages as cases climb and the Victorian Government recommends everyone in the state starts using masks.
He said all staff were told by management at 5:30pm on Friday to hand in any unused masks and told they would have to be requested from now on.Disability worker Vasalia, who preferred to not use her last name, worked in disability care until early June and said she was bartering with other staff for gloves and hand sanitiser until the day she left.
"In disability, the supply of PPE has been absolutely problematic the whole time. It's better now than it was four months ago but staff are being told to use it sparingly and only in emergencies."Mr Healey said disability care workers were often more at risk of catching illnesses because clients often did not understand physical distancing.
He said while the response when a client or staff member tests positive to the virus was "perfect", more needed to be done to prevent people from catching it in the first place."There's a hierarchy of needs; it's hospitals first, then it flows down and disability is at the end of the line."
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