The Head of the Neonatal ATI Department at the “Marie Curie” Hospital, Cătălin Cîrstoveanu, warns that unlocking the 22 positions of medical assistants will not solve the crisis in the department. The doctor says that the lack of qualified staff continues to endanger the lives of newborns and claims that, without systemic measures, “more children will die”.
The statements come after a second baby among nine on the waiting list for a place in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit died on Friday 24 July.
“And they will die. Obviously it is not solved. For some it is just a statistic. A statistic for some, a disbelief for others. I should have said it earlier and more clearly. Otherwise, how do you explain so many deaths on a waiting list? I do not allow untruths to be told“, the doctor told Digi24.
On Thursday, the government approved the organization of competitions to fill 22 vacant positions of medical assistants, a measure that would allow the reopening of five ATI beds closed due to lack of staff.
Cîrstoveanu says, however, that the problem is much deeper.
“If two more nurses leave tomorrow, we haven’t solved anything. It’s a problem with the system. For me, that shows a misunderstanding of the situation,” the doctor explained.
He emphasized that hospitals cannot be treated according to the same criteria, because the degree of complexity of the cases differs from one unit to another.
“There are hospitals that have 10% occupancy, there are hospitals that have 20% occupancy, there are some that have 100%. Our ward has 100% occupancy. That can mean something to someone who needs to understand certain things from numbers.”said the head of the Neonatal ATI department.
The doctor revealed that there is already a premature newborn in critical condition on the waiting list.
“We now have another premature baby, very small, and the colleagues told us that it is probably a transposition of great vessels. It is very possible that in a week or two he will die, if this is the diagnosis. We don’t know yet, we just have to establish the diagnosis, because we can’t take him over.” Cîrstoveanu warned.
The head of the department claims that one of the biggest problems is retaining qualified staff and attracting new nurses.
“I inquired on the construction site how much a plasterer and a crane operator earn, and I saw that they far exceed the salary of my resuscitation nurse, who has a 75% increase. Who comes for 4,000 lei to an resuscitation ward? Who is willing to have such responsibility, to stand for 12 hours? Sometimes they don’t even drink water. Obviously, no one“said the doctor.
He also drew attention to the difficulty of quickly replacing specialized staff.
“Where can I find nurses instantly to replace those who have left? There are novice nurses who come for exams and get a grade one. There are novice nurses who come and do not know how to write in Romanian. Do I want such assistants next to a patient in critical condition? Especially when we are talking about children”concluded Cătălin Cîrstoveanu.
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