Covid-19: As economy restarts, the future is unclear

Remember in the past, how you would turn the oil heating system off for the summer months and then when you turned it back on, it did not work? So you needed a visit from a heating engineer for help?

Late last week, we saw the Government decision that the wearing of masks will be mandatory on public transport. This is nearly four months on since the first case was officially reported here. People using public transport in such circumstances must also not end up having to explain to all and sundry about their private medical condition, in order to be allowed travel.

What happens if the supply of masks runs out in particular areas - will people simply not be permitted to travel? So it is something that will need to be carefully thought through by the new Government and Minister for Health. While Covid-19 is with us, the health system will be very different to what has been experienced before. The HSE estimates that 108,000 fewer planned procedures will be possible.

The changes will have major implications for employees and employers. Potentially, someone could be out of work for weeks before and after a hospital procedure. There were health concerns about going behind the doors of the homes of older people during the crisis. Home support services were reduced and the provision of aids and appliances to support independence were also cut.

It has often been remarked that organisations should never let a recession or emergency go to waste. It can be a time when changes, that would otherwise seem impossible due to institutional or industrial relations reasons, may become possible. The HSE says that for the future, the roles and responsibilities of different staff will need to be reviewed, with staff reassigned to other care settings.

There was a fascinating opinion piece by a cardiologist in the New York Times last week, about how people had stopped going to their doctor during the virus crisis in the US. We have seen the same here. The question posed, was whether people really need the amount of treatment that the health system is used to providing?

We have been asking similar questions here - where did all the heart attacks and other serious illnesses go? Of course, postponing healthcare will have had awful health consequences for some patients, with non-Covid-19 illnesses that were not diagnosed or treated.

Source: Financial Digest (financialdigest.net)

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