Over the last weeks, attacks on healthcare institutions, in particular the Al-Shifa Medical complex, and frontline healthcare professionals was again a reality in the occupied Palestinian territory, killing and injuring health professionals, workers and patients, and damaging essential healthcare facilities.
Based on testimonies from the healthcare staff inside, the situation is as follows; 107 patients, most of them are severe cases that had been in the ICU, and 60 of the medical staff have been incarcerated in an old building in the hospital that does not have the capacity to host such number of patients nor the equipment’s.
The situation as reported by many of the healthcare professionals, including nurses, is horrific and inhumane; no ventilation, cleaning conditions, water, nor minimum medication has been provided leading to septic wounds with white flies out of them. Nurses mentioned that they ran out of gloves, so they started using plastic bags when changing on wounds which ran out as well. In addition, they reported the lack of elderly diapers, especially that 30 patients are bed ridden and use diapers and in intensive need of medical care and nursing, that the limited number of staff is incapable of providing.
Furthermore, patients’ companions are either executed, arrested or displaced to the south by the military which add another burden on the frontline staff. Moreover, the military is starving the besieged patients and frontline staff with no food or drinkable water provided for days. The staff representative tried multiple times to convey their needs to the military leadership, however the response was violation and mistreatment.
In light of these horrific conditions, our already exhausted healthcare professionals and workers started showing symptoms of fatigue and allergy and if no solution is pursued as soon as possible, the place will turn into a graveyard of patients and healthcare professionals, if it is not already the case.
The EFN and its member National Nurses Associations from the EU and Europe are deeply concerned about this terrible situation. The EFN continues to condemn the conflict and these attacks on the healthcare facilities and is calling on all parties in this ongoing Israel and Gaza conflict for the protection and the respect of the work of nurses, and all health professionals, and to allow and ensure safe access of the population to healthcare. Healthcare facilities must not be military targets, and the healthcare professionals must not be prevented from performing their professional duties. The EFN calls for the neutrality of healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals, and that the principle of human rights is supported and protected. The EFN calls on the European Union to provide humanitarian and medical assistance, particularly for rehabilitation.
Access to health is a human right and any attack on health professionals and patients they serve is totally unacceptable.
>> Read here EFN Statement