Author: Belinda Howell

4 January 2022

We have been informed that an employee at Whiddon Laurieton has tested positive to COVID-19 through rapid antigen testing. Employees are wearing appropriate PPE, and we have also closed our care home at Whiddon Laurieton to visitors for now. Only visits for essential caring or on compassionate grounds will be permitted and residents are strongly encouraged to not leave the care home for now, again as a precautionary measure. Families will need to speak to the Care Manager directly to gain the necessary approval to visit.

We are working closely with the local Public Health Unit and following their advice, and have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented. Our COVID-19 response plan is robust and ensures we prioritise the safety of residents and employees.

Anyone considered a contact of the employee, will be contacted directly. There has been no recommendation at this stage by the PHU for employees not directly impacted to self-isolate, and as such, employees can continue to come to work and attend their normal shifts.

We understand that this is a challenging time for everyone, but we want you to know that it is our highest priority to keep everyone in our family safe and well, and we are doing everything we can to achieve this.

We ask that if you have any concerns to please speak to your manager in the first instance. Please also remember our confidential EAP service contactable 24/7 on 1800 818 728.

This is a timely reminder to all of us that COVID-19 is still very much with us. We encourage you to have your Booster shot and send evidence of your vaccination to payroll@whiddon.com.au at your earliest convenience. Eligibility for booster shots are for those that have had their second dose at least 4 months ago.

4 January 2022

We have been informed that an employee at Whiddon Laurieton has tested positive to COVID-19 through rapid antigen testing. As a precaution, employees are wearing appropriate PPE and we are restricting visitation to Whiddon Laurieton for now, while we assess the potential risk of exposure.

Only visits for essential caring or on compassionate grounds will be permitted and residents are strongly encouraged to not leave the care home for now, again as a precautionary measure.

We are working closely with the local Public Health Unit and following their advice, and have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented. Our robust COVID-19 management plan means that we have strict protocols in place to avoid potential spread of the virus across our care homes.

Those considered contacts of the employee who tested positive, will be contacted directly. We understand that this is a challenging time for everyone, but we want you to know that it is our highest priority to keep everyone in our family safe and well, and we are doing everything we can to achieve this.

We are also committed to keeping you up-to-date of the situation and will provide a further update once we know more.

We thank you for your understanding and support.

29 December 2021

Further to our update yesterday, we have been advised that we now have two staff members test positive for COVID-19 at Taylor House. We have met with the local public health unit today who have advised us that we need to undertake additional testing as directed by NSW Health tomorrow and Sunday.

Our residents are also isolating until we understand whether there’s any risk of greater exposure or outbreaks occurring within our care home.

We will provide a further update once we know more, and again, thank you for your understanding during this time.

You can also find additional information in the Older Persons Advocate Network flyer should you need it.

29 December 2021

We wanted to let you know that we have restricted visitation at our Taylor House and Sir David Martin care homes at Whiddon Easton Park as a precaution, due to a very small number of employees testing positive to COVID-19. As a precaution, our employees are wearing full PPE in these care homes and we have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented. We are also working closely with the local Public Health Unit.

While this does not impact Arthur Webb Court or Easton Park Units, due to continually rising COVID-19 case numbers in our communities, we do ask that if you can, please reconsider your visit for now. If you do need to visit, please note that rapid antigen testing is mandatory. We also ask that there is only one visitor per day, per resident, for now. It is very important that we take all steps possible to help keep everyone safe.

We want to reassure you that we strictly limit employee movement across our care homes at Whiddon Easton Park and our robust COVID-19 management plan means that we have strict protocols in place to avoid potential spread of the virus across our care homes. Please note that we are now unable to staff our rapid antigen testing stations. This means that you will now need to do this at the care home you are visiting. Please expect delays when you visit as a result.

The safety of our residents, employees and visitors is our highest priority. We ask that you follow our visitation guidelines and do not visit if you are unwell, are awaiting COVID-19 test results or are a close or casual contact of anyone who has tested positive to COVID-19.

We also encourage you to review the Older Persons Advocate Network flyer containing additional information.

We know this is a challenging time and ask for your patience and understanding.

29 December 2021

We wanted to let you know that an employee at our nearby care home, Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young, has tested positive to COVID-19. In response to this, our employees at Robert Young are wearing full PPE and we have closed our care home at Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young to visitors for now. We have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented. Our robust COVID-19 management plan means that we have strict protocols in place to avoid spread of the virus across our care homes.

Whiddon Jessie Hunt remains open to visitors, however, as a precaution, we ask that you wear an N95 mask when you visit, which will be provided to you. We will also be reducing our visiting hours from 10am – 2pm daily for now. We are continuing to conduct rapid antigen testing onsite, to complement our strict screening processes and robust COVID-19 protocols.  With the rising cases of COVID-19 cases in our communities, it is important that we stay vigilant and take all steps possible to help keep everyone safe.

We also want to reassure you that our employees are not working across our Narrabri care homes (Robert Young and Jessie Hunt).

  Please be reminded of the following guidelines when visiting:

• Residents are permitted to have two fully vaccinated visitors aged 12 years and over only, per day
• Children under 12 years of age are not allowed to visit
• Visitors aged 12 years and over must have received a second dose of a COVID vaccination at least 14 days prior to their visit
• Visits must not take place in communal areas and if available, visits should occur in outdoor areas
• All visitors must wear a N95 mask while visiting
• Visitors may be asked to complete a rapid antigen test as a condition of entry
• Unvaccinated visitors are only permitted to visit a resident who is at the end of life. Please speak to your loved one’s Care Manager directly to gain the necessary approval to visi

Please ensure that you:

• pre-book your visits. Please note that the number of visitors allowed into a home at any one time may be restricted to enable management of capacity limits.
• refrain from visiting if you have COVID-19 symptoms
• refrain from visiting you are a close or casual contact of a person with confirmed COVID-19, unless they have completed their isolation and testing requirements
• refrain from visiting if you are a fully vaccinated person who has been overseas in the last 7 day. Additionally, they must show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test taken on or after day 7 following their arrival
• refrain from visiting if you are not vaccinated and have been overseas in the last 14 days.
• refrain from visiting if you are waiting for a COVID-19 test result
• practice good hand hygiene and socially distance
• check in to the Service NSW app AND Whiddon’s check-in system when you visit

We thank you for your cooperation and support.

Have you had your second COVID-19 vaccine at least 5 months ago? If so, you’re now eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster vaccination.

As we see cases of COVID-19 rising, we strongly encourage you, if you are eligible, to have your COVID-19 booster dose as soon as possible. This will help keep you, your loved ones, and our residents and clients, safe.

A booster shot works very well at preventing severe illness and hospitalisation, and helps to reduce the severity of different COVID-19 variants such as the Delta variant and the new Omicron variant.

Reasons to have you COVID-19 booster vaccinations: 

• A booster dose will boost your immune response and provide an additional, and important, layer of protection to further reduce the risk of infection
• Evidence suggests that a booster vaccine increases antibody levels that will likely offer protections against new variants of COVID-19
• A booster dose helps keep you, your co-workers and residents safe whilst being at work

When can you receive your booster vaccination?

You are eligible to receive a booster dose if you received your second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at least five months ago.

Book your vaccination as soon as possible. Once you have received your COVID-19 booster shot, please send evidence of your vaccination to payroll@whiddon.com.au

Read more about COVID-19 booster vaccinations here: https://bit.ly/31TcDa8

22 December 2021

Due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases identified in the region, as a precaution, we will be introducing rapid antigen testing at Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young and Whiddon Narrabri Jessie Hunt, from tomorrow.

Commencing tomorrow on the PM shift, employees will be trained on arrival in using the testing. Please arrive 15 minutes earlier, to attend testing in the underground care park at Robert Young, or the foyer of Jessie Hunt. You will be paid for this time.

This testing adds an important, additional layer of protection at this time. We do appreciate your cooperation with this, as it does help to keep everyone in our family safe, which is our highest priority.

Please also note, to help manage this effectively, for now, visits will take place during office hours, from 9am until 4pm, and on weekends between 10am and 2pm.

This is a timely reminder to all of us that COVID-19 is still very much with us. We encourage you to have your Booster shot and send evidence of your vaccination to payroll@whiddon.com.au at your earliest convenience. Eligibility for booster shots are for those that have had their second dose at least 5 months ago.

We thank you for your understanding and support.

22 December 2021

Due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases identified in the region, as a precaution, we will be introducing rapid antigen testing at Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young and Whiddon Narrabri Jessie Hunt, from tomorrow.

This will involve rapid antigen testing of visitors on every second day. Our employees will also be tested via rapid antigen testing.

This testing adds an important, additional layer of protection at this time. We do appreciate your cooperation with this, as it does help to keep everyone in our family safe, which is our highest priority.

To help manage this effectively, for now, visits will take place during office hours, from 9am until 4pm, and on weekends between 10am and 2pm.

We wish to remind you of the following when you visit:

• Please wear a surgical mask (supplied by Whiddon) at all times
• Bookings are essential
• Visits are to be in residents’ rooms only – please do not meet in common areas, do not visit other residents that you haven’t booked in to see, or stop to chat in corridors etc. We know that this is difficult, but it is an important safety measure at this time
• Please ensure that you check in when visiting, using the Service NSW QR code AND our visitor sign-in system
• Please refrain from visiting if you have any COVID-19 symptoms, are awaiting a COVID-19 test result, have been to any locations or venues of concern, or are a close or casual contact of a person with confirmed COVID-19 (unless they have completed their self-isolation and testing requirements).

We thank you for your understanding and support. We do know that this is a challenging time and genuinely appreciate you taking the important steps above, to help us protect our residents, visitors and employees.

22 December 2021

Further to our update yesterday, we are very pleased to let you know that the final negative COVID-19 test result came through overnight.

This means that we are once again able to welcome back visitors. We truly thank you for your understanding and patience as we know this has been a difficult time.

Please note the important information below regarding visiting Easton Park:

• Visits must be pre-booked
• Visits with loved ones are strongly recommended to take place outdoors
• Visitors must wear a mask at all times
• All visitors must have a rapid antigen test on arrival and sign-in
• Please ensure that you practice social distancing at all times, and good hand hygiene
• Do not visit if you are unwell, are awaiting a COVID-19 test result, are a close or casual contact or have ben to any venues or locations of concern

It is important that we continue to stay vigilant and all take steps to help keep everyone safe.

Again, we thank you for your understanding and support.

22 December 2021

We are writing to you to update you and acknowledge the challenges with staffing levels over the recent weeks. Whilst it’s important to acknowledge these challenges it’s also important to let you know everything we are doing to try and overcome them.

Firstly, we’d like to thank those of you that continue to come to work each day even when the circumstances are challenging. Your dedication to your team members and our residents has not gone unnoticed and we would like to thank you for your efforts.

Despite all our efforts, unfortunately circumstances continue to challenge us. It is during these times, more than ever we have to work together to ensure we keep each other and our residents safe.

You will be aware that we have had a positive COVID-19 case at Taylor House and in the Admin team. In addition, with the increased COVID-19 community transmission we are experiencing unprecedented levels of staff needing to self-isolate due to being close or casual contacts. At this stage we presently have 50 staff members who are unable to attend their shifts due to needing to self-isolate.  In addition to this we have had:

1. A small number staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, requiring them to not be able to attend work for a few weeks;
2. We have unprecedented numbers of staff requesting emergency leave without notice given and requesting months at a time off;
3. Given the time of year, some staff were approved annual leave, however this was months ago, at the time that this leave could be replaced.

It has never been our intention to place increased demands on staff, however unfortunately, given the circumstances above we are in a situation where there are simply no extra staff to replace the number of shifts that we have. Replacing 50 employees at short notice is very challenging under the best of circumstances.

What are we doing to resolve the issue?

• We are working with People and Culture to assist with recruitment including short term casual placements over the Christmas and Holiday period.
• We have requested support from our local support services team to man the RA Testing stations which will provide us coverage over the Christmas period ensuring any care staff can focus on providing care.
• We have reached out to local universities to recruit students into support or AIN roles.
• We are working with various recruitment agencies to supply temporary staff to fill vacant shifts.

From you we simply ask that if you require time off that you adhere to the policies and provide sufficient notice so that your shift can be replaced and your team mates can be supported.

We want you to know that we are working to improve the staffing numbers at Easton Park and do hope that we see improvements over the coming weeks. We want to thank you for your efforts and support. We are all in this together and as a team we can work towards overcoming the current challenges.

We also want you to know that we are very grateful for all you do. In the New Year we will plan a special celebration to thank you for all your efforts.