Health staff who “gave their all” in response to the Covid-19 pandemic are experiencing burnout, which could restrict the HSE’s ability to deal with a second wave of the virus, according to Fórsa.

Speaking at the joint Oireachtas committee examining the coronavirus response earlier this week, the union’s head of health Éamonn Donnelly said improved testing and tracing had put Ireland in a better place to deal with a second wave.

But he said the health service would need more staff.

“It will be very difficult to call on the same group of people, who are pretty-much at burnout, to provide the same response. We are not going to be able to deal with a second wave without a fluid migration of people into the health service, and we have to be upfront about that,” he said.

He said mainstream health services, including cancer diagnosis and critical therapies, could not be closed down during a second wave, as they were earlier this year.

Éamonn told the all-party committee that health workers in all grades and occupations had given their all in response to the pandemic. Many became infected after being reassigned to duties in high-risk settings.

“Over a quarter of the 8,347 health staff who contracted the coronavirus worked in grades and professions represented by Fórsa. Even those with the mildest symptoms tell me they are only now approaching full recovery, three months later.

“Health workers are also living with the fear of passing the virus on to vulnerable and loved at-risk family members,” he said.

Answering a question about the 2,800-plus the infected healthcare workers who had underlying clinical conditions, Éamonn said many staff with underlying conditions had been exposed to high risk environments.

“A significant number of them asked to be reassigned but were refused. The HSE took a very hard line on the issue, and required a consultant’s certificate that somebody had a vulnerable condition. Otherwise you were asked to continue as normal,” he said.

Éamonn said the high infection rates among health workers impeded the HSE’s Covid response. “The infection of over 8,000 workers meant that 7% of the workforce were forced into absence. When you factor in normal absences, over 10% of the workforce was unavailable during a pandemic,” he said.

He praised health and social care professionals and administrative staff who volunteered for reassignment into areas like seven-day swabbing, testing, nursing homes, residential care, and high-dependency and intensive care settings.

“This required huge levels of staff flexibility, seven days a week. Workers across many grades did what was necessary on behalf of Irish citizens and they deserve great credit for their massive contribution, particularly as they did not get the childcare and eldercare supports they were promised by the Government,” he said.

And Éamonn pointed out that many senior managers worked 70-hour weeks to sustain the Covid-19 response. “This is not sustainable for long periods. It placed enormous strains on the system and left many managers burned out. Clerical and administrative staff were also placed under a similar strain in their supporting roles,” he said.