Eine arbeitsmedizinisch betreute Telefonhotline in der Corona-Pandemie 2020

Abstract

An occupational physician-led telephone hotline in the 2020 coronavirus pandemic Objectives: Apart from organizational factors, the ability and willingness of clinical staff to work during a pandemic is crucial to guaranteeing the functional capability of hospitals and therefore of the whole healthcare system. Trust in the crisis management of the employer and the provision of information to the employees can be assisted by successful crisis communication. The role of directly accessible occupational medical advice via a telephone hotline is to be evaluated here. Methods: During the first lockdown in March and April 2020 Mainz University Hospital established a telephone hotline managed by occupational physicians and made it available to all its employees. The questions and concerns raised there by the employees are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results: A total of one-third of the 122 hotline callers raised questions about testing modalities and quarantine regulations. Employees from the medical service were overrepresented compared to their share of all university hospital employees. The number of callers peaked during the first week of the hotline’s operation, at 68 % of all calls, and then declined rapidly. Conclusion: Occupational health expertise is particularly useful for counseling employees from a wide variety of work settings, especially at the beginning of a pandemic and where there is some psychological stress. In future employees should have the possibility of evaluating the consultation so that the offer can be further improved and adapted. Keywords: hospital staff – pandemic – occupational medicine support hotline