Year: 2021

3 October 2021

Due to recent storms in the area, our phone lines at Whiddon Redhead have been impacted. We have been notified that incoming calls aren’t coming through and this appears to also be the case for residents phone lines. We are working to rectify this situation as soon as possible. For any urgent enquiries please email our team at redhead@whiddon.com.au – this email address is being monitored regularly.

We do apologise for any inconvenience and want to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to have our phones working once again. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

We will provide a further update once we know more about when this may be resolved.

1 October 2021

Pleasingly, the Mid-Western Regional Council area is no longer under NSW Health stay-at-home Orders. As a result, we want to provide you with an update relating to our Whiddon Mudgee Pioneer and what this means for visitors and resident outings.

We are pleased to say that residents may now have two visitors per day, provided that they do not come from an area that is under the stay-at-home Orders.

As a precaution, over the next few days we will continue to ask all visitors to complete a Rapid Antigen Test prior to visiting and if residents go for an outing, they will be asked to complete a test on their return.

Visits must be pre-booked with our team and visitors must ensure:

• they wear a surgical mask
• they show evidence that they have received their flu vaccine (government requirement)
• they practice good hand hygiene and social distancing
• meet in the resident’s room and not in common areas
• they check-in through our visitor check-in system and the Service NSW app
• they do not visit if they have been to any COVID-19 hotspot venues or locations, or to any interstate locations of concern
• they do not visit if they are unwell and have any COVID-19 symptoms – fever (37. 5°C or higher) or symptoms of COVID-19
• they do not visit if they are a close contact of a person with confirmed COVID-19 and are within their self-isolation period
• they do not visit if they live in a household with a person who is currently self-isolating
• they do not visit if they are waiting for a COVID-19 test result

Residents are permitted to leave the facility and attend small family gatherings but must abide by the current COVID-19 Safety – gathering and movement restriction.  Please note that residents must not go into an area that is currently under a stay-at-home Orders.

As a reminder, we also have our new app, Whiddon Connect, that we encourage you to download. You can book in video chats with your loved one on this app by contacting our team. You can also see COVID-19 updates and photos of your loved one enjoying activities. For more information on Whiddon Connect click here.

We thank you for your understanding and support as we know it has been a difficult time.

1 October 2021

Please note that the nearby Local Government Areas of Logan City, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Moreton Bay were placed under additional restrictions due to a heightened risk of COVID-19.

Visitors who have been to a COVID-19 hotspot in last 14 days or since the hotspot was declared (whichever is shorter) are not permitted to attend a residential aged care home in Queensland. This means that visitors from the above Local Government Areas are not permitted at Whiddon Beaudesert Star for now.

We understand that this is a difficult time. Our highest priority is to keep everyone safe and our team are working hard to keep residents connected to their loved ones.

If you are able to visit us and meet our visitation guidelines at this time (for eg. such as not having been to any areas of concerns, not being unwell or not waiting for COVID tests result or in home quarantine), please be reminded that you will near to wear a mask, socially distance and meet in your loved ones’ room or outside to avoid meeting in common areas. Please note that we may need to ask you for your proof of address as part of our screening process at this time.

We thank you for your understanding.

30 September 2021

We are excited and pleased to hear the NSW Government’s announcement yesterday that as of 11 October, visitors will be permitted at residential aged care homes again. Please note that this will be limited to two people per day, per resident, and these visitors must be fully vaccinated.

This is welcome news and we are sure this is very reassuring for you, your family and your loved one living at Whiddon.

At this stage, we are yet to receive further information from NSW Health around this. Once we have more information, we will provide you with an update. It is expected that we will know more towards the end of next week.

We do thank you for your patience and understanding as we know this has been a difficult time.

We look forward to welcoming our families back and seeing you soon.

30 September 2021

We have been advised that there are a number of local cases of COVID-19 in the Kyogle and Casino areas. As a precaution, for now, we are only allowing visits under exceptional circumstances such as end of life visits or to provide essential care services. It is our highest priority to keep our residents, families and employees safe and well.

We genuinely understand that this is a difficult time and we want you to know that our teams are working hard to keep you connected to your loved ones through phone and video calls wherever possible.

We also have our new app, Whiddon Connect, that we encourage you to download. You can book in video chats with your loved one on this app by contacting our team. You can also see COVID-19 updates and photos of your loved one enjoying activities. For more information on Whiddon Connect click here.

We thank you for your understanding at this time.

29 September 2021

lease find Whiddon’s HumanForce mobile clock in and out manual here: HF Mobile sign and out Manual

29 September 2021

We’re excited to announce that mobile clock in and out from your mobile device is now available! H

Read more about this here: 210917-Whiddon-Humanforce-Geofencing-Poster-A3

28 September 2021

We have been advised that the Port Macquarie Local Government Area will once again be subject to stay-at-home orders, from 6pm tonight, for 7 days, due to an increased COVID-19 risk. This means that for now, we can only allow visits under exceptional circumstances such as end of life visits or to provide essential care services.

We genuinely understand that this is a difficult time and we want you to know that our teams will be working hard to keep you connected to your loved ones through phone and video calls wherever possible. We also have our new app, Whiddon Connect, that we encourage you to download. You can book in video chats with your loved one on this app by contacting our team. You can also see COVID-19 updates and photos of your loved one enjoying activities. For more information on Whiddon Connect click here.

We thank you for your understanding at this time.

23 September 2021

We are very pleased to welcome back visitors to Whiddon Casino, now the stay-at-home restrictions have been relaxed in the Lismore region.

Please note that the Byron Bay, Tweed Heads and Kempsey Local Government Areas have now gone back into lockdown. We all need to stay vigilant and take all steps possible to help keep everyone safe.

We do want to remind you that there are some important guidelines for visiting Whiddon Casino.

NSW Health has advised that residents may have two visitors per day, provided that they do not come from an area that is under the stay-at-home Orders.

Please also note that visits must be pre-booked with our team and visitors must ensure:

• they wear a surgical mask
• they show evidence that they have received their flu vaccine (government requirement)
• they practice good hand hygiene and social distancing
• meet in the resident’s room and not in common areas
• they check-in through our visitor check-in system and the Service NSW app
• they do not visit if they have been to any COVID-19 hotspot venues or locations, or to any interstate locations of concern
• they do not visit if they are unwell and have any COVID-19 symptoms – fever (37. 5°C or higher) or symptoms of COVID-19
• they do not visit if they are a close contact of a person with confirmed COVID-19 and are within their self-isolation period
• they do not visit if they live in a household with a person who is currently self-isolating
• they do not visit if they are waiting for a COVID-19 test result

Residents are permitted to leave the facility and attend small family gatherings but must abide by the current COVID-19 Safety – gathering and movement restriction.  Please note that residents must not go into an area that is currently under a stay-at-home Orders.

Recruiting Whiddon’s future talent just got a little easier. By now you would have heard about our new Recruitment and On-Boarding system. It’s not long now before we go live with the new system. To celebrate its launch, we have sent out a little surprise for you in the mail. Look out for your `smart cookies’ arriving soon.

What’s new?

 As a reminder the new system will help us to:

• Streamline and accelerate the recruitment process
• Reduce time to hire
• Reduce manual administrative tasks
• Reduce errors and save time
• Reduce paper and postage
• Improve candidate experience
• Increase engagement with new starters

What now?

 Over the coming weeks, you will be invited to training sessions. There are three one hour sessions to choose from with multiple time slots available. Please come along and learn how to use the system and find out about all its benefits. And importantly, your cookies will be delivered to the DCS of each service to share and enjoy with those that use the system including co-located Community Care hubs.

For Support Services, these will be available for you when you return to the office at a later date