Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital investigating potential staff exposure to chemotherapy

A major Victorian hospital is investigating whether staff have been exposed to chemotherapy after the wrong gloves were worn for the past decade.

Transcript

00:02Caring for the state's sickest children.

00:05Nurses, doctors and pharmacists at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital have potentially been exposed to chemotherapy after a failure in PPE

00:15standards.

00:16The gloves provided to staff in the cancer ward weren't tested to ensure they protected against chemotherapy and other hazardous

00:24drugs.

00:25Of course chemotherapy is one of the most hazardous agents that we as nurses come across.

00:30Staff now fear they've been exposed.

00:33They're really distressed, they're angry, they are frustrated at what's gone on.

00:39The Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation says the hospital has a responsibility to make sure staff are protected.

00:48I think we can only characterise it as a failure in systems.

00:51A healthcare worker at the hospital who can't speak publicly told the ABC

00:56Now I'm left worrying whether I've been exposed, whether my colleagues have been exposed. It's not right.

01:03The problem with the gloves was first raised ten years ago and other areas of the hospital replaced the gloves,

01:10but the cancer ward didn't.

01:12In an email to staff last month, hospital leaders apologised and promised to find answers.

01:19The email said...

01:20We're sorry for the worry this has and will cause.

01:23We understand that waiting for answers about possible exposure is especially hard when you've done this work for years.

01:30The Royal Children's Hospital has hired an independent organisation to test the gloves

01:36and to investigate whether staff have been exposed to hazardous chemicals,

01:40while the State Health Department is investigating whether the same issue is happening at other hospitals.

01:46The union is pushing the regulator to act.

01:50They should issue what's called a safety alert to all health services, private and public in this state.

01:55They should issue what's called a safety alert to all health services, private and public in this state.

01:57They should issue what's called a safety alert to all health services, private and public in this state.

01:59...

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