Author: despinao

9 May 2022 

We have had two employees at Whiddon Wee Waa test positive to their Rapid Antigen Test prior to entering our care home, and are currently in isolation. We have begun testing residents, particularly those who did leave our care home for their Mother’s Day celebrations, and have all come back negative.

We are currently working with the Public Health Unit and are putting in necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our residents and staff, including daily Rapid Antigen Tests and PPE.

All visitors are required to undertake rapid antigen testing as a condition of entry to Whiddon Wee Waa 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 in our care home, and in the community.

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.

9 May 2022 

We have had two employees at Whiddon Wee Waa test positive to their Rapid Antigen Test prior to entering our care home, and are currently in isolation. We have begun testing residents, particularly those who did leave our care home for their Mother’s Day celebrations, and have all come back negative.

We are currently working with the Public Health Unit and are putting in necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our residents and staff, including daily Rapid Antigen Tests and PPE.

All visitors are required to undertake rapid antigen testing as a condition of entry to Whiddon Wee Waa 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.

6 May 2022 

Since our last update, we have not had any further residents test positive to COVID-19. We have had a few residents considered ‘close contacts’, and  are currently isolating in their rooms as a precaution. We have also had secondary testing completed today on the advice of the Public Health Unit.

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.

5 May 2022

It’s been two weeks since our last update, and we wanted to provide you with an update on the COVID-19 situation at Whiddon Easton Park. As of today, there are two residents who are currently Covid positive. All other affected residents are now considered to be Covid recovered.  This is welcome news and it is our wish that these residents make a speedy recovery. During the recent weeks many of our staff have also been affected by Covid-19, however the vast majority of staff have recovered and returned to work.

We are continuing to work closely with the local Public Health Unit who provide us with guidance and direction on the management of outbreaks. This includes guidance around visitation.

Over the last few weeks, we have had support from the Australian Defence Force. They have been assisting in many different areas which has helped re-energise our teams within our care homes. This weekend in particular, we are grateful for their assistance as they will be able to help facilitate extra visitation for Mother’s Day.

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 thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.

5 May 2022

Dear Residents and Families,

We wanted to provide you with an update on the management team at our Arthur Webb Court care home. As you will already be aware, we have been recruiting a new leadership team for Arthur Webb Court since Sumi’s resignation in April.

I am pleased to announce that we have recruited a new Director Care Services, however there will be a slight change in the leadership structure at the home.

We are pleased to announce that we have appointed Lynda Neil to the position of Director Care Services for Arthur Webb Court. Lynda has worked at Whiddon for some time now and is the current Director Care Services at our Taylor House home. Lynda will be the Director Care Services for both Arthur Webb Court and Taylor House.

To support Lynda in her role, we are pleased to announce that Mr Collect Mbungo as a fulltime Care Manager. Collect will be based in Arthur Webb Court and work Monday to Friday where he will lead the team and support care delivery. Collect has worked with Whiddon since June 2015 and is an experienced Nurse Manager who brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to the role.

Kind Regards

Sharon Fletcher
Regional General Manager Residential Greater Sydney

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