A critical outcome of this lack 7 of engagement of the health workforce in pandemic-management decisions resulted in the use of allocation frameworks that prescribed access and use of critical supplies to clinicians, essentially removing clinician autonomy to make decisions on the use of protective equipment, informed by principles of infection protection and control (Snowdon and Saunders 2021). [...] Engagement of the health workforce protects and supports the autonomy of the clinician workforce and acknowledges the critical role it assumes in the capacity of health systems to deliver care. [...] The endpoint of the health-care supply chain is the health and safety of both the health-care worker and the patient, which entails that the workforce is fully protected when the need arises and patients are fully protected from any possibility of exposure to risk of infection. [...] Given the fragility of pre-pandemic health-care supply chains (Snowdon, Saunders and Wright 2021), and the impact of this fragility on the health-care workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic (Snowdon and Saunders 2021), the post-pandemic renewal and strengthening of health-care supply chains is an urgent priority required to advance and strengthen health-system capacity and responsiveness to the he. [...] • The empowerment of the health workforce to engage in and support supply- chain management and decision-making creates the transparency needed for Canada’s health workers to be confident in the health and safety of their workplace, and confident they will have the protective supplies and equipment to deliver safe and effective quality care.
- Pages
- 22
- Published in
- Canada
