Truthfulness, acknowledging uncertainty and understanding the workforce are key leadership elements, say senior health leaders.
“When people try to communicate uncertainty as certainty, that’s when you get into trouble,” said Professor Raina MacIntyre.
When Professor Sir Edward Byrne reflects on his time in the UK at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he recalls how much the country was unprepared for it. He speaks about the healthcare workforce and what he learnt about this critically important sector.
“There were ridiculously low numbers of ventilators in the country and not enough personal protective equipment to provide basic protection for staff,” Professor Byrne told a UNSW Sydney symposium about leadership in health during challenging times. “Almost every final year nursing medical student and clinical academic went up to the clinical frontline overnight.”
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Leaning in the doorway of his sweets and pastry shop a short walk from Fairfield station, 54-year-old Jan Israel surveyed the passing foot traffic on Thursday and declared the lockdown “a joke”.
The small-business owner has worked seven days a week since buying his brother-in-law out and going solo last year. But he said he was willing to close up and wear the financial pain if it meant helping pull Sydney back from the brink of a prolonged COVID-19 outbreak.
“People are still visiting each other and people are still on the street,” the Iraqi-born shop-owner told the