Gießen (dpa/lhe) - Pandemic-related staff shortages are pushing the university hospital in Gießen to such an extent that employees with a positive corona test are now also allowed to appear on duty. The prerequisite is that they declare themselves fit for work and wear an FFP-2 mask throughout, said a spokeswoman on Thursday. The clinic is thus reacting to a “high level of sickness and isolation-related absences among employees across all types of service”.
The regulation also applies to care. However, care is taken to ensure that those who test positive are not used in vulnerable areas - such as cancer wards. Several media had previously reported on the new regulation.
According to the spokeswoman, the clinic in Gießen - the sister hospital in Marburg is not affected - uses a decree from the Hessian state government. As a result, it is possible under certain conditions in the event of staff shortages due to quarantine or isolation that positively tested employees who declare themselves able to work can be used “in exceptional cases” and with an FFP-2 mask in patient care. Vulnerable areas should be left out as far as possible.
"Our goal is to use this measure to maintain patient care at the Gießen University Hospital, which is of central importance for the entire central Hessian region, in the best possible way," explained the medical director, Werner Seeger, about the decision made the day before. "We are currently experiencing an unprecedented loss of staff. Not only in nursing and the medical profession, but in a wide variety of areas that are equally relevant to patient care."
Changes at the University Hospital in Frankfurt were recently announced: In order to keep operations running, employees who tested positive there are allowed to work again after an isolation period of five days and at least two days without symptoms, as the medical director, Jürgen Graf, reported. However, this also requires a negative antigen test, which employees can also do themselves. Previously, this was only possible with an official PCR test.
