Author: Chris Mar

Dear Families, Friends & Representatives,

Please be advised that we currently have a COVID-19 outbreak at Whiddon Narrabri – Robert Young with 2 residents testing positive to COVID-19 within North Wing. The wing is now isolated, visitation continues with precautions in place. 

All visitors to RAT (Rapid Antigen Test) prior to entry, and to wear a N95 mask at all times when visiting the home.

Please note: If you are unwell or have any flu-like symptoms, please do not visit the home.

The families of residents who have tested positive will be contacted directly by the team.

We know that this is a challenging time, and we appreciate your understanding and support. Our team is here to provide the best possible care for your loved ones and we are confident that we can manage this outbreak effectively.

– The Whiddon Team

Dear Whiddon Wingham Residents, Families & Representatives,

Please find important information regarding a visit to Whiddon Wingham from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission here:
Whiddon Wingham ACQSC Audit

Regards,

The Whiddon Team

Dear Residents, Families, Friends & Representatives of Whiddon Easton Park – Arthur Webb Court,

Please be advised that we are currently experiencing a COVID-19 Outbreak, as declared by Public Health.

The safety of our residents and team members is our number one priority. We ask for your support to ensure this outbreak is contained.

For this to take place, please note:

• Visiting may still occur during this period, restricted to resident rooms only.
• Visitors are required to follow our safety precautions including:
  negative RAT (test) before entry and N95 mask is to be worn upon entry.
• Regular handwashing and use of hand sanitisers are strongly encouraged. Hand sanitising stations are available throughout the facility and other areas including reception.
• For those visitors who are visiting positive residents we have supplied full PPE, please wear them correctly during your visit and seek RN assistance if you need.
• Maintain appropriate social distancing whenever possible.
• All visitors are encouraged to consider postponing any visits if they are unwell or experiencing any respiratory or flu-like symptoms.

We thank everyone for their support and understanding while our team manage this outbreak.

Regards,

The Whiddon Team

Dear Whiddon Temora Families, Friends & Representatives,

Following consultation with the Public Health Unit, we are pleased to inform you that the outbreak at Whiddon Temora has been declared over.

We thank everyone for their support and understanding whilst our team managed this latest outbreak.

We understand and continue to encourage those who are unwell to, if possible, refrain from visiting their loved ones until symptoms clear to keep our residents and team members safe.

– The Whiddon Team

Dear Families, Friends & Representatives,

Following consultation with the Public Health Unit, we are pleased to inform you that the outbreak in Easton Park Units has been declared over.

As a precautionary measure, all visitors must continue to wear surgical masks due to cases in the community.

We thank everyone for their support and understanding whilst our team managed this latest Outbreak.

The Whiddon Team

Dear Residents, Families and Employees,

I am writing to let you know that earlier today, we had an incident in our Memory Support Home at Whiddon Kelso. A resident in our MSU recently returned from an extended stay in hospital, and this morning exhibited aggressive behaviour resulting in minor injuries for some of our employees and residents. The families of impacted residents have been contacted.

Our team acted swiftly and compassionately to contain the situation, and in line with our procedures, both Police and Ambulance attended to support our team. The resident involved in the incident was safely transferred to hospital for assessment and specialist care.

We are grateful to our team, residents, and visitors for your understanding at this time. This has been a distressing incident for all involved and we are supporting the team with extra staffing and counselling.  We are taking this opportunity to also review our procedures to ensure we can continue to provide a safe and welcoming environment for our residents, employees, and visitors.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call me on 1300 738 388.

Kind regards

Sharni Latham

Residential Services Manager

Whiddon Kelso

Dear Whiddon Temora – Greenstone Families, Friends, Representatives and Employees,

This Saturday, January 11th, our Greenstone Lodge home will be undergoing planned electrical work. 

The planned work will commence at approximately 8:30AM and conclude at approximately 4:30PM – during which time Essential Energy will provide a generator to ensure the comfort and safety of our residents is maintained.

Essential Energy will be replacing a high-voltage cable, which will result in brief power outages at the start and conclusion of the work (at apprximately 8:30AM and 4:30PM respectively). We anticipate the outages will last approximately 30 minutes each.

Our team will be on hand to minimise impact, monitor the situation and assist residents as needed.

We understand that this may cause some inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding as we work to improve the safety and reliability of our electrical systems.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

The Whiddon Temora Team

Dear Families, Friends & Representatives of Taylor House,

Please be advised that Whiddon Taylor House currently has x 3 residents with confirmed COVID-19 cases:

• Straughen 2 Wing has two resident cases and is in ‘outbreak’ status
• Christie 1 Wing a single resident case and is in exposure status

Please note:

• Visiting may still occur during this period, restricted to resident rooms.
• Visitors are required to follow our safety precautions including:
  • RAT to be attended on entry and N95 mask to be applied prior to visiting Straughen 2
  • Regular handwashing and use of hand sanitisers are strongly encouraged. Hand sanitising stations are available throughout the care home.
  • Maintain appropriate social distancing whenever possible. Visits should be conducted in resident rooms or on balconies.
• All visitors are encouraged to consider postponing any visits if they are unwell or experiencing any flu-like symptoms. The safety of our residents and team members is our number one priority.

We thank everyone for their support and understanding while our team manage this outbreak.

The Whiddon Team

Dear Families, Friends & Representatives,

Please be advised that Whiddon Sir David Martin – Level 2 (Leslie Lock 2) – remains in COVID-19 Outbreak with 6 active cases.

Please note:

• Visiting may still occur during this period, restricted to resident rooms.
• Visitors are required to follow our safety precautions including:
  • RAT to be attended on entry and PPE / N95 mask to be applied prior to visiting Leslie Lock 2 area.
  • Surgical masks need to be applied prior to visiting all other areas of SDM.
  • Regular handwashing and use of hand sanitisers are strongly encouraged. Hand sanitizing stations are available throughout the care home.
  • Maintain appropriate social distancing whenever possible. Visits should be conducted in resident rooms or at the internal courtyards.
• All visitors are encouraged to consider postponing any visits if they are unwell or experiencing any flu-like symptoms. The safety of our residents and team members is our number one priority.

We thank everyone for their support and understanding while our team manage this outbreak.

The Whiddon Team

Dear Families, Friends, and Representatives,

Please be advised that the community transmission of COVID-19 has increased from low to moderate levels across NSW and QLD.

As such, Health advises that masks should be worn by visitors and employees when there are moderate or high levels of respiratory viruses circulating in the community.

Therefore, for everyone’s safety, Whiddon is requiring all visitors and staff to return to mask-wearing while visiting and strongly encourages postponing any visits if experiencing any respiratory symptoms.

We will continue to review these requirements as the community transmission levels change.

Thank you for your ongoing patience and support.

The Whiddon Team