Date: 19 March 2020

Elderly people are vulnerable and at a higher risk of serious disease from COVID‐19 and residential aged care facilities have been advised to have appropriate precautions in place to ensure residents continue to remain safe from Coronavirus. It is important that you read this information below.

As of 8am on Friday 20 March, Whiddon will introduce a two‐week period that will see increased restrictions on all people visiting our residential age care homes. This means that during this period, there will be no visitors to our home, unless there are compassionate circumstances. The safety of our residents and our employees is our highest priority and this has not been a decision that we have made lightly.

The Australian Government announced precautionary measures in residential aged care to help minimise the risk of exposure to our residents and employees. We have made the decision to introduce this additional precautionary measure in our homes, a decision we made in consultation with our management teams and based on feedback from health service experts. We genuinely feel this is the best decision for the health and safety of our residents and our employees.

While we have taken many precautions to date, this additional measure will allow us to continue to assess and respond to the emerging situation operationally. It will also allow us to build on the measures that focus on infection control, so we can do our best to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID‐19 in our residential care homes.

During this period, we will be enhancing leisure activities at our homes and looking at ways to keep our residents connected to their loved ones with the use of technology.

Information on compassionate circumstances

If there are compassionate circumstances, families should speak to the home’s Director of Care Services or Care Manager, where requests will be assessed on a case by case basis. There will still be special conditions that apply to such visits which we must adhere to, including a maximum amount of visits per day, two visitors at a time and practicing of social distancing measures.

Frequently Asked Questions and where to access current information

We have also included some answers below to a number of questions that we have been asked, to help at this time. We thank everyone for their understanding and compliance with these new measures as we continue to do our best to keep the people we care for safe and well.

Can I take my family member out to dinner, shops or an appointment?

We recommend that our residents and clients have little community exposure at this time. We suggest that you reconsider taking your family member out in the community at this time. Please note that we may need to take additional precautions in terms of monitoring residents upon their return. If an appointment is considered essential, please talk to your Care Manager about the best approach for your family member.

Information is changing quickly, how can I stay up to date with the latest information from Whiddon?

The best source of information on visiting Whiddon’s homes and services is our website at www.whiddon.com.au