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Nurses and midwives across NSW are being told to not wear their scrubs outside hospital in the wake of several healthcare workers reporting being assaulted and spat on by members of the public.
Key points:
- Police were called to help a pregnant midwife who was abused at a McDonald's drive-through
- "Anxious patients" waiting for virus screening are spitting on nurses at Sydney Hospital
- The NSW Health Minister says the abusers are a "small minority" of the public
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard today lambasted the "unacceptable" behaviour of people who abused medical professionals because they believed they were spreading coronavirus.
"It's not Australian, it's not the way Aussies behave," he said in a press conference.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NMA) reported workers were being told by hospital administrators to not wear their uniforms to work after a spate of incidents.
One intensive care nurse at Royal North Shore hospital, the NMA said, was assaulted after boarding a train while wearing her scrubs, while another was screamed at in Coles when she stopped on her way home to get dinner.
At Westmead Hospital, there were several reports of nurses being refused service at supermarkets and cafes or being abused by petrol station attendants for walking in their uniform.
In Penrith, police were called to a McDonald's after a pregnant midwife was verbally attacked at the drive-through before her shift.
"When showing her ID for a free coffee, a driver behind her yelled that she should not be spreading the virus," the NMA said.
Inside the facilities, staff at Campbelltown Hospital say they are being deliberately coughed on, while at Sydney Hospital nurses are being spat on by "increasingly anxious patients" waiting for their COVID-19 screening.
Last week, the ABC reported doctors were finding it difficult to secure new accommodation because tenants refused to share space with healthcare workers.
Mr Hazzard said while those who were abusing staff were a "small minority", the reports still disturbed him.
"I think every right-minded member of our community would be appalled that our doctors and nurses are being targets for these people, who don't seem to get it," he said.
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He said healthcare workers could one day save their abuser's life.
"They might be actually putting a tube down your throat to keep you alive [and] you will wish you hadn't actually done what you did previously," he said.
"I want all of us as a community to make it clear to that small minority that your behaviour is completely unacceptable, completely."
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Topics: covid-19, diseases-and-disorders, health, infectious-diseases-other, health-administration, healthcare-clinic, healthcare-facilities, doctors-and-medical-professionals, government-and-politics, police, law-crime-and-justice, sydney-2000, nsw
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