Author: despinao

13 January 2022

Further to our last update to you, pleasingly, the local Public Health Unit have advised that the outbreak at Whiddon Temora – Greenstone is over, and we can once again welcome back visitors. We thank you all for the fantastic job you’ve done in dealing with the outbreak, and we appreciate your support during this time.

As we prepare to welcome visitors back into our care home, please note the following guidelines that we will be sharing with families across both our Temora homes:

• Visitations will be limited between 9am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday. No weekend visits unless approved by management.
• Residents are permitted to have one fully vaccinated visitor aged 12 years and over only, per day
• Visitors 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 wherever possible, visits should occur in an outdoor area
• All visitors must wear a N95 mask and face shield when visiting
• Visitors will be asked to complete a rapid antigen test as a condition of entry. Please ensure you arrive 15 minutes before your booking time.
• 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 visit

Please ensure that you:

• pre-book your visits. Please note that the number of visitors allowed 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 if you are a close or casual contact of a person with confirmed COVID-19, unless they have completed their isolation and testing requirements. Close contacts should not enter high risk settings for at least 14 days since their exposure to a COVID-positive person
• do not visit if you have been overseas in the previous 14 days, unless you are fully vaccinated and have received a negative PCR test 7 days or later after arrival in NSW
• 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 understanding an support at this time.

13 January 2022

Further to our last update to you, pleasingly, the local Public Health Unit have advised that the outbreak at Whiddon Temora – Greenstone is over, and we can once again welcome back visitors. Our team have done a fantastic job in dealing with the outbreak, and we appreciate your support during this time.

As we prepare to welcome visitors back into our care home, please see our guidelines for visiting at this time that apply to both our homes in Temora:

• Visitations will be limited between 9am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday. No weekend visits unless approved by management.
• Residents are permitted to have one fully vaccinated visitor aged 12 years and over only, per day
• Visitors 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 wherever possible, visits should occur in an outdoor area
• All visitors must wear a N95 mask and face shield when visiting
• Visitors will be asked to complete a rapid antigen test as a condition of entry. Please ensure you arrive 15 minutes before your booking time.
• 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 visit

Please ensure that you:

• pre-book your visits. Please note that the number of visitors allowed 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 if you are a close or casual contact of a person with confirmed COVID-19, unless they have completed their isolation and testing requirements. Close contacts should not enter high risk settings for at least 14 days since their exposure to a COVID-positive person
• do not visit if you have been overseas in the previous 14 days, unless you are fully vaccinated and have received a negative PCR test 7 days or later after arrival in NSW
• 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 understanding an support at this time.

13 January 2022

We have been informed that a resident at Whiddon Maclean has tested positive to COVID-19 after taking a Rapid Antigen Test. We will also be conducting a PCR test to confirm this result. We have also had an employee return a positive Rapid Antigen Test however the risk to the service is deemed low.

Employees are wearing full PPE and we have closed our care home at Whiddon Maclean to visitors for now and visitors are only permitted to visit a resident who is at the end of life or if the visitor is an essential carer. Please speak to your loved one’s 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 robust COVID-19 management plan means that we have strict protocols in place to avoid spread of the virus across our care homes.

Those considered contacts of the resident 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 about the situation.

13 January 2022

We have been informed that a resident at Whiddon Maclean has tested positive to COVID-19 after taking a Rapid Antigen Test. We will also be conducting a PCR test to confirm this result. We have also had an employee return a positive Rapid Antigen Test however the risk to the service is deemed low.

Employees are wearing full PPE and we have closed our care home at Whiddon Maclean to visitors for now and visitors are only permitted to visit a resident who is at the end of life or if the visitor is an essential carer. Please speak to your loved one’s 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 robust COVID-19 management plan means that we have strict protocols in place to avoid spread of the virus across our care homes.

Those considered contacts of the resident 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 about the situation.

8 January 2022

Further to our update that was sent out this week, we are pleased to advise that the two residents who had tested positive, have now had medical clearance and are no longer being treated as ‘positive’ cases. In addition, two employees who had also tested positive have also been medically cleared and will be returning to work. We have a total of 6 staff still positive to COVID-19 and are doing well.

Our third round of PCR swabs will be taken tomorrow, and we hope to provide an update as soon as we receive these results.

We continue to work closely with the local Public Health Unit and continue to follow their advice while also implementing our COVID-19 response plan and Outbreak Management Plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented. Our employees also continue to be diligent with their PPE and follow our protocils.

Thank you for your support as we continue to work through this challenging time.

8 January 2022

Further to our update that was sent out this week, we are pleased to advise that the two residents who had tested positive, have now had medical clearance and are no longer being treated as ‘positive’ cases. In addition, two employees who had also tested positive have also been medically cleared and will be returning to work. We have a total of 6 staff still positive to COVID-19 and are doing well.

Our third round of PCR swabs will be taken tomorrow, and we hope to provide an update as soon as we receive these results.

As a reminder, please continue to be diligent with your PPE and our COVID-19 protocols during this time.

We continue to work closely with the local Public Health Unit and continue to follow their advice while also implementing our COVID-19 response plan and Outbreak Management Plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented.

Thank you to everyone who is continuing to work through this challenging time.

7 January 2022

We have been informed that two employees at Whiddon Kelso have tested positive to COVID-19. Employees are wearing full PPE, and we have closed Whiddon Kelso to visitors for now as a precaution. 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 precaution.

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 employees 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.

7 January 2021

We have been informed that two employees at Whiddon Kelso have tested positive to COVID-19. Employees will be required to wear full PPE, and we have closed Whiddon Kelso to visitors for now as a precaution. 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 precaution.

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 employees 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.

6 January 2022

We wanted to give you another update regarding the COVID-19 situation at our nearby care home, Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young.

Since out last update, we have had a small number of employees and two residents have tested positive to COVID-19. In response to this, our employees at Robert Young are wearing full PPE and our care home at Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young has remained closed 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.

We received the second round of PCR swabs from Narrabri Robert Young and are pleased to share that all residents have come back negative, except for two residents mentioned above. Their families have been notified. We will be doing a third round of PCR swabs this Sunday.

Whiddon Jessie Hunt continues to remain open to visitors and we thank you all for following our processes and protocols during this time.

As a reminder, 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. You may also be asked to conduct a 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.

6 January 2022

Further to our update that was sent on earlier this week, we have since received the second round of PCR swabs. We are pleased to share that all have come back negative, except for the two residents who were originally positive, as mentioned in our update on Tuesday.

We have scheduled for the third round of PCR swabs to be taken this Sunday, 9th January.

As a reminder, please continue to be diligent with your PPE and our COVID-19 protocols during this time.

We continue to work closely with the local Public Health Unit and continue to follow their advice while also implementing our COVID-19 response plan and Outbreak Management Plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented.

We will share any further updates once we receive the results.