Author: despinao

3 June 2022

We’re please to share that since our last update, we have not had any further positive test results come back from employees who have been tested. We are also seeing employees return to work which is great news!

In addition, we have not had any residents test positive to COVID-19.

We continue to work with the Public Health Unit, and remain in exposure mode for now. We plan to revisit this early next week.

Visitation is still permitted for now. We ask that all visitors undertake rapid antigen testing as a condition of entry to Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young and wear an N95 mask and face shield, which will be provided upon entry to the home. Visits must be pre-booked. Please do not meet in any common areas and refrain from visiting if you are unwell.

We thank you for your understanding and support.

3 June 2022

We are pleased to advise you that the COVID-19 outbreak at Whiddon Grafton has been declared over by the local Public Health Unit. This is welcome news. We sincerely thank you for your understanding and support during this time.

As of Monday, 6 June, visitors will be welcomed back into our care home. As a reminder, please ensure that you pre-book your visits and refrain from visiting if you are unwell. You will be required to wear an N95 mask when you visit and complete a rapid antigen test as a condition of entry.

We thank our employees for their ongoing dedication and work to keep our residents, visitors and employees safe. And again, we thank you for your support and understanding. This is very much appreciated by our team.

10 June 2022

Whiddon is participating in an exciting project called Design for Care. The project is being led by researchers and psychologists from Curtin University (Perth) and the University of Sydney. This project will help us better understand how to support wellbeing in the aged care sector and provide you with an even better employee experience.

We will be holding a session on Tuesday, 14 June at 2.30pm at Whiddon Moree and encourage you to attend. Below is more information about the Design for Care Survey.

We also have a video for you which you can watch here: Design for Care

3 June 2022

Dear Team,

As you will be aware there was a site audit conducted by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission from the 10^th-12^th May, 2022. We have received feedback from the Audit and as a result there are several issues that need to be addressed.

The Auditors picked up issues with the following:-

1. Staff compliance to Mask Wearing – As a reminder staff must wear their masks covering their nose and mouth and avoid touching their mask while it is on.
2. Bare below the elbow – Infection control practices were breached and staff were observed to be wearing long sleeves, have watches and other jewellery on and staff were observed to have long acrylic nails. It is essential that staff comply with Whiddon’s “Bare below the elbow” strategy to help minimise the risk of infection to not only our residents, but also to eachother.
3. Documentation and Sharing of Information at handover – In some areas our documentation was lacking and importantly, specific resident related strategies to minimise behaviours was not shared adequately at handover. Moving forward, we will revisit how we share this important information to ensure that this is passed on to all of our team members to assist with behaviour management strategies.
4. Education – It was identified that many of Wingham’s staff have not completed their Mandatory Training. As a reminder it is also a condition of employment that staff keep up to date with their Mandatory Training requirements. As a result of this, all staff will be required to complete Mandatory Training on the following subjects by September 1^st
   1. Complaints Management
   2. Dignity of Risk
   3. Infection Control
   4. SIRS
   5. Restrictive Practices
   6. Quality Standards
5. Facility Cleanliness and Clutter – The general cleanliness and clutter throughout the facility was raised by the Auditors. It is important that we all work together on this as many of the issues identified were a result of poor staff practice eg wet towels left on the floor, rubbish on the floor, broken items left in use, wheelchairs and other equipment dirty.
6. Smoking Areas – Please note that both residents and staff can only smoke in designated smoking areas. This is to ensure appropriate distance is kept from equipment, the building and chemicals.

Please note that these matters can be addressed fairly quickly and easily, however we do need to come together to achieve this. By doing this we will also help support our residents to live a comfortable and safe life.

Kerrie Paul
Deputy Director of Care Service
Whiddon Wingham

1 June 2022

We wanted to provided you with an update on our Whiddon Largs care home. We continue to work closely with the local Public Health Unit and are pleased to advise you that from today, residents in the Casuarina wing are no longer required to isolate. This is welcome news and we are carefully managing this de-isolation to ensure the safety of residents.

The local Public Health Unit have advised that residents in the Jacaranda wing remain in isolation at this stage. We will continue to monitor our residents in this wing and provide further updates as they come through. Please be assured that if your loved one tested positive to COVID-19, you would be contacted directly by the Registered Nurse on duty.

From tomorrow, Casuarina wing may return to pre-outbreak arrangement (two fully vaccinated visitors aged 12 years and over, plus two children under 12 years per day). For now, visitation to the Jacaranda wing is limited to one nominated partner-in-care. All visits must be pre-booked. All visitors are required to complete a rapid antigen test as a condition of entry and wear an N95 mask. Partners-in-care may be asked to wear additional PPE at this time such as a face shield. Please refrain from visiting if you are unwell.

On behalf of the team at Whiddon Largs, we sincerely thank you for your cooperation and support over this challenging time.

13 May 2022 

Since our last update, we have had an employee test positive to COVID-19 and continue to work with the Public Health Unit to manage the situation. In pleasing news, we no longer have any residents testing positive to COVID-19.

As a reminder, all employees and visitors are required to undertake rapid antigen testing as a condition of entry to Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young and will be asked to wear an N95 mask and face shield, which will be provided upon entry to the home.

We thank you for your ongoing support and assistance.

13 May 2022 

Since our last update, we have had an employee test positive to COVID-19 and continue to work with the Public Health Unit to manage the situation. In pleasing news, we no longer have any residents testing positive to COVID-19.

As a reminder, all employees and visitors are required to undertake rapid antigen testing as a condition of entry to Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young and will be asked to wear an N95 mask and face shield, which will be provided upon entry to the home.

Please ensure all visits are pre-booked by contacting our care home directly.

We thank you for your ongoing support and assistance.

12 May 2022

Since our last update, we have had an additional two residents at Whiddon Wee Waa test positive to COVID-19. We do also have residents currently isolating as a result of being a close contact, and families have been notified of this. In light of the situation, we have been able to identify the source of transmission and are confident with our robust systems and quick processes implemented early on, we have been able to reduce the spread within our care home.

We are currently conducting additional COVID testing and are working very close with the Public Health Unit to manage the situation.

Employees will continue wearing full PPE and visitations will remain to one visitor per resident into our care home (for compassionate or essential visits only).  These visits must be pre-booked.

We thank you for your ongoing hard work in caring for our residents.

12 May 2022

Since our last update, we have had an additional two residents at Whiddon Wee Waa test positive to COVID-19. We do also have residents currently isolating as a result of being a close contact, and families have been notified of this. In light of the situation, we have been able to identify the source of transmission and are confident with our robust systems and quick processes implemented early on, we have been able to reduce the spread within our care home.

We are currently conducting additional COVID testing and are working very close with the Public Health Unit to manage the situation.

Our employees will continue wearing full PPE and visitations will remain to one visitor per resident into our care home (for compassionate or essential visits only).  These visits must be pre-booked.

When visiting please ensure that you:

• wear an N95 mask and face shield at all times, which will be supplied to you. In some areas, you may be required to wear full PPE
• stay vigilant and practice social distancing and good hand hygiene
• do not meet in any common areas
• refrain from visiting if you have COVID-19 symptoms or are awaiting a COVID-19 test result
• do not visit if you have been overseas in the previous 14 days, unless you are:
  – fully vaccinated, it has been at least 7 days after arrival and you have received a negative rapid antigen test 6 days or later after arriving in NSW.

We thank you for your ongoing understanding, and will provide you with a further update once we know more.

12 May 2022

We wanted to provide you an update on Whiddon Easton Park. Since our update last week, we have had a further two residents test positive for Covid-19. Please be reassured that if your loved one tests positive we will contact you directly.

Whilst Covid-19 remains a focus for us, we are also preparing ourselves and our residents for Flu season. Covid vaccinations at our care homes are high, and we have been working with our local doctors to complete Influenza vaccinations for both residents and staff.  As we have done in the past, we will continue to work closely with our local Public Health Unit to manage any respiratory illnesses throughout the Flu season.

As a reminder, visitation must be booked in advance.

When visiting please ensure that you:

• wear an N95 mask and face shield at all times, which will be supplied to you. In some areas, you may be required to wear full PPE
• pre-book your visit
• stay vigilant and practice social distancing and good hand hygiene
• do not meet in any common areas
• refrain from visiting if you have COVID-19 symptoms or are awaiting a COVID-19 test result
• do not visit if you have been overseas in the previous 14 days, unless you are:
  – fully vaccinated, it has been at least 7 days after arrival and you have received a negative rapid antigen test 6 days or later after arriving in NSW.

We would also like to advise you that there has been a change in Regional Managers for Whiddon Easton Park.  Sharon Fletcher will be moving to a different position at Whiddon and will be replaced by Sally Renshaw. Sally is an experienced Manager who has recently returned to Whiddon where she will continue to support the Director of Care Services at Easton Park. Sally can be contacted through the Customer Liaison Team on 1300 738 388.