Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the management of a selected treatment facility

Introduction/background: Following the SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak, the goals of the health care system had to be adapted to the changed environment to meet the health care needs of patients and the expectations of Polish health care workers for safe working conditions in emergency situations. The need for change concerning the health workforce, is mainly due to organisational and economic changes affecting health care systems worldwide and affects all forms of health care. The aim of this paper is to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operation of a selected treatment facility. The research resulted in the author's master's thesis. Aim of the paper: The aim of the paper is to determine the changes that may have occurred in the operation of the treatment facility under investigation, influenced by the events taking place as a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and to analyse the assessment of the staff of the treatment facility before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: Literature analysis, analysis of source materials (internal), survey method - technique: indirect survey, tool: survey questionnaire. Results and conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic showed the state of the treatment facilities and the measures taken to cope with the new operating conditions. It is important to address staff shortages: nurses, doctors, economists trained in health system administration. Deficiencies in the health care system were revealed. Working in an environment with a lack of equipment and personnel forces changes in treatment methods. The application of standard treatment methods, developed under normal conditions, turns out to be either suboptimal to protect life and health or impossible. The most obvious conclusion is the lack of equipment, which occurs when the practitioner does not have the necessary tools or protective equipment that are formally authorised for medical use. Another of the identified frailties is the lack of adequate preparation of staff to work under stressful and even 'combative' conditions, contributing to staff overload, which may result in staff wanting to change jobs. Another finding is the lack of a developed procedure in terms of storage policy, which has a significant impact on the shortage of medical equipment in the medical facility. In addition, the sudden increase in the number of patients could have been a reason for employees to feel increased stress or a desire to change jobs. Such feelings, on the other hand, may have been the result of a lack of knowledge regarding the medical management of SARS-COV-2 coronavirus patients, in which certain risky emergency procedures were reserved for specialists or specially trained persons (e.g. intubation).