Impacts of the Early COVID-19 Response on Allied Health Staff Within an Australian Tertiary Health Service: A Qualitative Study

Purpose: Understanding the experiences and needs of healthcare workers is crucial in strengthening healthcare system resilience during times of change. We aimed to explore allied health (AH) professionals' perceptions of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic response on their work experiences. Participants and Methods: Qualitative descriptive study using thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with AH professionals employed in a large Australian health service. Results: Four themes were conceptualized from interviews of 21 AH clinicians and consolidated with six AH managers. Impacts were at personal, service, and systems levels. An overarching theme of "acceptance of circumstances due to the pandemic" influenced experiences within each level. Service changes included service cessation, remote service delivery, new COVID-19 protocols and role or work location alterations. Some staff were empowered in making practice changes, while others lost research or career opportunities. Despite low COVID-19-related hospitalizations and fatalities, staff reported stresses from workload changes and fear for self or loved ones. Open, clear communication assisted in alleviating anxiety, while perceived involvement in decision making and administrative and/or technical support for implementation of new processes facilitated change management processes. Conclusion: The study demonstrates the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic response on AH professionals. Gleaned in a context with limited community disease transmission and without the challenges of providing care for large numbers of COVID-19 patients, the findings have implications for change management within health services in any context in which rapid change is required. The wellbeing of the workforce should be forefront. Clear communication is critical, with staff involved in decision-making where possible. The needs of vulnerable staff should be considered with clear processes and eligibility guidelines to ensure provision of appropriate support and transparency of decision making. Workloads should be monitored, and adequate infrastructure, technical support and training provided for new initiatives or processes.