Aviation Workers as Contact Tracers
Dear NSW Ministry of Health,
My name is Mel and I have been reading the NSW COVID-19 Public Health Response Report.
I have a few questions regarding the use of aviation staff in terms of how they came to be employed as contact tracers, their training, how broadly they were utilised in terms of their tasks (ie only case questionnaires??) etc. I would also like to know if they were included in any form of debrief and/or feedback relating to their experience working as public health officers for the NSW government. Lastly, I would also like to know if there have been any reported cases of ptsd within this cohort of COVID-19 surge workforce staff.
This information will be incredibly significant and beneficial to me. I am a Victorian resident, ex aviation staff who worked as a PHO during the pandemic. I have diagnosed PTSD.
Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Kindest regards,
Mel
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Dear Melissa
Thank you for your email to the NSW Ministry of Health in relation to the
below informal information request.
Following consultations with the relevant area of the Ministry, the
following information was provided in response to your request.
“Recruitment and training of contract tracers for the COVID-19 response
Contract tracers were engaged through various sources to meet demands of
the COVID-19 pandemic, including publicly advertised processes. A
dedicated online job portal was established in early 2020 where NSW Health
called for expressions of interest for frontline health workers and
support staff. The website enabled companies and individuals to register
their skills for potential positions ahead of expected demand across the
NSW healthcare system. The portal was designed as a landing page for
people to make themselves known to NSW Health and a place for
organisations to register their staff with appropriate skills who were
stood down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Organisations such as aviation
did take up the opportunity to nominate staff for re-deployment with NSW
Health after their roles were impacted by COVID-19.
Aviation staff were onboarded to NSW Health via a third-party recruitment
agency named Randstad. Contract tracers were provided with an induction to
NSW Health and were required to complete mandatory training modules
facilitated by the Health Education and Training Institute, as required
for all new starters. Based on the skills and experience of the aviation
staff, they were assigned to team leader roles or other positions within
the contract tracing structure. Aviation staff generally demonstrated good
customer service skills, adhered to established processes and procedures,
and appropriately escalated issues when required.
COVID-19 public health review
The public health response debriefs was confined to NSW Health and related
agencies. NSW Health contact tracers were hired through third-party
recruitment agencies therefore any reported cases of post-traumatic stress
disorder would have been managed by the respective agencies. NSW Health
contact tracers were engaged through third party recruitment agencies, and
therefore if there were any reported of cases of PTSD, we would not be
made aware of these cases.”
Thank you.
Kind regards
NSW Ministry of Health GIPA Team
Corporate Governance and Risk Management Unit (CGRM)
Legal and Regulatory Services Branch (LRS)
NSW Ministry of Health - 1 Reserve Road, St Leonards NSW 2065
[1][NSW Ministry of Health request email]
[2]www.health.nsw.gov.au
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and pay respects to
Elders past and present. We also acknowledge all the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander staff working with NSW Government at this time.