Concerns of Healthcare Professionals during Covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected healthcare professionals.

Objective: To determine the concerns of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit-5, Lady Aitchison Hospital, Lahore from 1^st March to 31^st March 2020.   Sample size of 108 healthcare professionals was taken. Six main categories of concerns were made and various themes were recognized in each category. These included; the provision of PPE, risk of getting disease at work, transmission of infection to family members, access to COVID-19 testing if symptomatic, training to provide high-quality care, and support from institutional governing bodies. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 20.

Results: Regarding the provision of  PPE; 35% got PPE from hospital administration, and 29% faced a shortage of kits during initial days. Regarding the risk of getting disease at work; 21% of Healthcare providers, and patients were not practicing any precautionary measures, and social distancing was not practiced appropriately (15%). Overall 36% feared transmission of infection to family members. Limited number of testing kits available per day was another concern of Healthcare providers (23%).  There was not enough training or guidelines and set protocols was a concern shown by 27% and 46% showed nonavailability of funds.

Conclusion: It is concluded that healthcare professionals are concerned about the provision of PPEs, the risk of transmission of infection to family members, the lack of proper training, and the shortage of funds.