Author: despinao

5 May 2022

In pleasing news, we are now able to welcome back all visitors to Whiddon Redhead. This is on advice from the Public Health Unit, as we have not had any further residents test positive to COVID-19. This means that visitors are now permitted in all areas of the care home.

We thank you for your patience and understanding, as we know it has been a challenging time.

Please be reminded that visits must be pre-booked and we ask that you follow our guidelines when visiting, which includes wearing PPE when required and other important precautionary measures to help keep everyone in our family safe.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

4 May 2022 

We have had one resident at Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young test positive to COVID-19. We have not had any employees test positive to COVID-19 at this time.

A number of employees who were close contacts have been informed and close contact residents are isolating in their rooms. Please continue to wear N95 masks, face shields or goggles and follow PPE protocol for positive and close contact cases.

As a precaution, all employees and visitors are required to undertake rapid antigen testing as a condition of entry to Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young. Visitors will also be required to wear N95 masks and face shields.

Further updates will be provided as and when changes occur. Thank you for the wonderful work you continue to do, in keeping everyone within our care home safe.

3 May 2022

Flu season is just around the corner. Getting vaccinated against influenza is the best way of protecting you, your loved ones and others from the flu. This year it is even more important. We are all more vulnerable to influenza due to lower recent exposure to the virus and lower uptake of influenza vaccines. With international borders reopening, it’s likely we will see more influenza in 2022.

We wanted to let you know that we are running our Resident Influenza Vaccination Clinic for 2022 here at Whiddon Casino on Thursday 5 May. If you would like to discuss this further or gain additional information, please feel free to contact me directly at the care home.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support to help us keep our wonderful residents safe through these ever changing times.

Kind regards,

Janine Holden
Director of Care Services

3 May 2022 

We have had one resident at Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young test positive to COVID-19. We have not had any employees test positive to COVID-19 at this time.

As a precaution, 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 ask that you please remain vigilant and practice social distancing and good hand hygiene when visiting. Please refrain from visiting if you are unwell and do not meet in common areas. All visits must be must be pre-booked.

We have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented, and will keep you updated with any further information once we know more about the situation.

On 1 February 2022 the Australian Government announced that it was providing $210 million to support the Aged Care workforce, in recognition of their dedication in continuing to care for older Australian’s through the Covid-19 Pandemic. Payment of the Aged Care Workforce Bonus of up to $800 was to be provided to all employees who worked in eligible roles in residential aged care (RAC) and community care (CC) during the census period.

Unfortunately, not all roles were considered eligible as part of the bonus payment, which included roles that did not provide direct care, food or cleaning services in residential aged care. These roles included administration, store persons and gardeners. Your role was identified as one of the ineligible roles.

We acknowledge and share the dissatisfaction you may have felt with regards to the eligibility criteria that the Australian Government determined for this Aged Care Workforce Bonus Payment. Whilst we too were disappointed with this decision, it is important to note that we recognise the valuable contribution of all frontline aged care employees and the importance that each role plays in supporting our residents and clients.

As per previous correspondence, Whiddon would be providing those workers that were not eligible to receive the bonus a $250 gift voucher as a recognition and appreciation of your efforts and commitment not just to Whiddon, but the aged care industry.

We are pleased to advise that the gift vouchers will be delivered to you via SMS and to the mobile phone we currently have on file for you. It will appear as an SMS from GiftPay so please keep an eye out for this message.

If you have any questions on the Aged Care Workforce Bonus, the amount you have received or the gift voucher please reach out to your Director of Services or Community Care Coordinator in the first instance who will be able to answer all your questions.

Thank you again for your ongoing commitment to our residents, our clients and to Whiddon.

 

Kind regards,

Chris Mamarelis

CEO

We are pleased to advise that we have received payment of the Aged Care Workforce Bonus from the Government. This will be paid into your nominated bank account on Monday 2 May 2022.

As a reminder, the bonus of up to $800 will be paid to all eligible residential aged care and community care employees. This bonus is in recognition of the significant commitment the Aged Care Workforce have made to the care of our senior Australians during the pandemic.

1. What are the Bonus amounts?

The bonus is due to be paid in two instalments of up to $400 each based on the eligibility requirements below. The amount of the bonus will depend on whether you are employed in residential aged care or community care and will be prorated based on the highest number of hours worked in a single week out of the four weeks leading up to the census dates. Examples of how to work out the bonus payment amount you will receive can be found in the FAQ document which is available to you at your place of work.

The bonus payment amounts are as follows (where an employee qualifies for both instalments 1 and 2):

** Employees may qualify for either one or both instalments. However, should an employee only qualify for one instalment then the maximum amount will be half of that in the above table.

2. Who is eligible?

Full time, part time and casual employees who have worked in residential aged care (RAC) or community care (CC) including direct care workers, food services workers and cleaners in residential care and who are employed with Whiddon on the census dates being 28 February 2022 and 28 April 2022 will be eligible for the bonus. Those employees who are not eligible to receive the bonus are outlined in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) which is available to you at your place of work.

As previously mentioned, Whiddon is disappointed to see that not all roles have been recognised for eligibility for the bonus. To recognise the valuable contribution of all frontline aged care employees and the importance that each role plays in supporting our residents and clients, Whiddon will be providing those employees that are not eligible to receive the bonus a $250 gift voucher as a recognition of your efforts and commitment not just to Whiddon but the aged care industry.

The gift vouchers will be delivered around the same time that the first instalment bonus is paid. Those eligible for gift vouchers will be communicated with directly via SMS, with the gift voucher delivered via SMS to the mobile phone we currently have on file so please ensure your details are up to date.

3. When will the second instalment be paid?

The second census date of 28 April 2022 has just passed so we will start preparing the government submission for payment of the second instalment of the bonus. We don’t anticipate the processing of this payment to take too long however we will continue to keep you updated as we progress through the submission process.

4. Further information

If you have any questions on the Aged Care Workforce Bonus, the amount you have received or the gift voucher please reach out to your Director of Services or Community Care Coordinator in the first instance who will be able to answer all your questions.

Thank you again for your ongoing commitment to our residents, our clients and to Whiddon.

Kind regards,

Chris Mamarelis
CEO

 

29 April 2022

Since our last update, we have had a resident at Whiddon Hornsby test positive to COVID-19. As a precaution, we have once again activated our COVID-19 management plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are in place.

We are working closely with the Public Health Unit and, for now, visitation is limited to one visitor per resident (partner-in-care).  Visitors will be required to wear an N95 mask and face shield. Residents are also strongly encouraged not to leave the care home at this time, as a precaution.

The planned meeting with residents and families, on Tuesday 3^rd May at 11am, will still go ahead. However, the meeting may need to be in a different format, so we will keep you updated.

Thank you for your ongoing patience and understanding.

28 April 2022

In pleasing news, we are now able to welcome back all visitors to Whiddon Wingham. This is on advice from the Public Health Unit, as we have not had any further residents test positive to COVID-19. This means that visitors are now permitted in all areas of the care home.

We thank you for your patience and understanding, as we know it has been a challenging time.

Please be reminded that visits must be pre-booked and we ask that you follow our guidelines when visiting, which includes wearing PPE when required and other important precautionary measures to help keep everyone in our family safe.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

27 April 2022

Further to our update yesterday, we are pleased to advise that all Rapid Antigen Tests have come back as negative for our residents. As a result, we are excited to share that visitation requirements resume as normal prior to yesterday.  

We will be continuing to monitor residents and ask that you also remain vigilant within your communities.

As a reminder, please do not visit if you are feeling unwell as the safety of our residents and employees remain a priority. We also want to take this opportunity to remind visitors that bookings are essential.

We thank you for your support and understanding.

26 April 2022

We have had an employee at Whiddon Casino test positive to COVID-19. We are working closely with the local Public Health Unit and following their advice, and have activated our COVID-19 outbreak management plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented.

We’re pleased to note that after conducting our risk assessments, we have identified the risk of transmission as low as a result of PPE Compliance and minimal time exposure. In addition, the employee did test negative to their Rapid Antigen Test prior to starting their shift.

Our robust COVID-19 management plan means that we have strict protocols in place to avoid potential spread of the virus across our care home. We are conducting Rapid Antigen Testing to the Ground Floor Cedars West wing as an extra precaution. For now, we are requesting that visitations occur for essential reasons only.

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 thank you for your support and understanding.