It was truly fantastic to be joined by around 200 employees across Whiddon, for our very first coffee catch-up on Thursday 27 August 2021 at 1pm. 97% of you said you wanted to do this again, so we will be communicating another date in the future – stay tuned.
For those who couldn’t make it, we missed you. We thought you might be interested in reading some information around what was discussed, so we have provided a summary below.
Chris shared:
- A big shout out to all Whiddon employees. He acknowledged your dedication and heart. He thanked you all and made a special mention of those services in hotspots right now, namely: Greater Sydney, Hunter, Kelso, BD, Northern Rivers – RAC and CC, for adapting to orders, supporting each other, and the residents and clients.
- The amazing achievements of Rebecca Elks, for being a finalist for the Rising Star Award; and Michael Monteleone, for being the Next Gen Young Leader winner, at the LASA Awards.
- Our recent nomination as finalists for the HESTA award. While we didn’t win, it is nice to see all of our hard work recognised.
- Information around what we are doing to work through the current business challenges borne from the obsolete funding structure and COVID. We are hopeful that the government will be addressing the funding recommendations from the Royal Commission and; that the new funding model AN-ACC, which is being tested, will provide the funding levels more aligned to the level of care and support our residents need.
- The announcement of the 1.5% wage increase.
- The large amount of work going into attracting and hiring new people.
- An update on the work to meet the recommendations from the Royal Commission; the majority of the recommendations were already things that we had in our plan. We are working through this plan. You will hear more about each item through the next year.
Alyson shared:
- COVID-19 – we have a very responsive committee, and are staying on top of all requirements, in an effort to keep everyone safe. We will continue to communicate with you through written and video updates.
- COVID-19 mandatory vaccinations – we are progressing well towards everyone being vaccinated, however a reminder to make sure you take advantage of the clinics and priority status for vaccination. The Aged Care Direction states that a Residential Aged Care worker must not engage in work unless they have met the COVID-19 Vaccination requirements. This applies from 16 September in Queensland and 17 September in New South Wales. There are some limited exceptions based on Health Conditions that must be confirmed by a Doctor. Whilst we are still waiting on confirmation from NSW Health to confirm their requirements we expect they will be similar to Queensland, which means employees will not be able to engage in work from the 17 September unless they meet the COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
- Rapid Antigen (RA) Testing: Whiddon has proudly taken the lead in this area. Thank you to the amazing teams who made this possible. We are extending RA Tests to those are most at risk, where possible.
- A thank you, to the Community Care Team, for the outstanding work in leading positive Community Care & Disability Services Growth.
- An update on the Relationship Based Care (RBC) review, which is progressing well. RBC is key, now more than ever. You will be hearing about this towards the end of the year, and new year.
- Michael continues to promote integrated services between ILU, residential and community care services. ILU residents are part of the Whiddon family and we are encouraging them to engage with our different teams.
Jacky shared:
- RU OK? Day is coming up on 9 September 2021.
- Please make some plans to do something for this with your teams, and remind everyone to take the time to check-in with others, especially in this tough time.
- Some additional information will be provided soon.
- Note: someone in the session suggested we all dress in yellow on the day, to visually remind everyone about RUOK day.
QUESTIONS:
PEOPLE FOCUSED QUESTIONS:
Q: Is the 1.5% increase going to be applied to all staff, including DCS’s?
A: This increase is applicable to all EA covered employees. Please note, the DCS received their increase in August. The non-EA employees received their annual increase in August and that was also based on 1.5%increase.
Q: What is happening regarding the Board of Directors Award event?
A: Unfortunately, the BOD award event had to be cancelled due to the ongoing COVID crisis in Sydney. We are currently working to adapt the celebration of our nominees and winners. Your Managers will be receiving some communication on this in the upcoming weeks. Right now, the plan will be for local celebrations to take place in October 2021.
Q: How does the refer a friend to work at Whiddon process work?
A: you can receive a one-time bonus of $500. Please note, for the referrer to be eligible for the bonus, the new employee has to:
– be employed on a permanent basis;
– work a minimum of 3 shifts a week;
– successfully complete their probation period.
Q: Who and how is the referral being tracked
A: Will be through page up, our new recruitment and onboarding system which will be rolled out soon. Currently, it is via a spreadsheet. PAC team has more info if needed.
Q: Regarding referring someone we know to work at Whiddon: Will the person that we recommend be offered permanent work straight off rather than casual?
A: The intention is to offer permanent roles wherever possible.
Q: Does the extra week of annual leave apply to someone who has already had 5 weeks?
A: No. The additional week of leave was provided to those who were originally on 4 weeks, to bring them in line with the Whiddon standard of 5 weeks.
COVID-19 RELATED QUESTIONS:
Q: How long will this single site working directive continue for?
A: This was a directive from the Health Department. We will continue to comply, and update you as soon as there is a change in this directive.
Q: With the antigen testing will it be continued after the lockdown has lifted? For safety reasons?
A: This is something that we will need to determine at that point in time. We will provide updates on this as soon as things do change. We commenced rapid antigen testing as an additional layer of screening when community transmission is significant in a region.
Q: Will Rapid Antigen testing be extended to the Bathurst area and for Community Care staff too?
A: We have not yet extended this to community care, as there are strict requirements regarding how these tests must be supervised by a RN or EN, and there would be challenges to be able to achieve this for community care. That being said, we are continually reviewing this and will update you with any changes.
Q: Is there a reason why the department did not make RA testing mandatory in areas with high case numbers?
A: We cannot talk for the department. What we can share is that Whiddon took the lead in trialing this solution with great results, and the department is now considering its position regarding this.
Q: Hi guys, just wondering if staff can visit residents in their own time during these trying times?
A: It is so amazing to have this question asked. It shows the dedication and care you have for our Residents and Clients. This should be a case by case scenario. Speak to your manager. They will need to consider; your roster and making sure you have sufficient rest time and making sure we are sensitive to families who cannot visit at this time.
Q: Is it the plan to get back to unrestricted visitation to residential homes as per pre COVID?
A: Again, this will be based on government advice however, we expect some kind of provisions to stay in place for a while.
Q: Do we need to register with Service NSW when travel to work?
A: We are awaiting clarification and instruction from the government right now. What we do know is that Sydney area permits will be available on Service NSW on Saturday 28/08/2021. We will update you as soon as we have information. Update has been sent to the teams since this meeting.
Q: Even when NSW Health restrictions eased previously Whiddon still required appointments for visitors, and were only available between certain times.
A: This was because we needed to be able to control, track and report on visitations and contact and respect COVID capacity requirements within our homes..
Q: While regional NSW remains in lockdown will there be new clients in both community and facilities?
A: Yes, we will continue to welcome new clients and residents, using a case by case risk assessment approach
RESIDENT/CLIENT RELATED QUESTIONS
Q: How does a client claim their $50 refer a friend for referring another client (in community care)?
A: If a Community Care client refers a friend to our home care services with a home care package and selects us as their provider, they are entitled to a $50 voucher. The new client must let Customer Liaison Team know of the name of the referring friend, and they must also have services being delivered for a minimum of 3 months before they meet the eligibility of receiving the voucher.
Q: Can we please organise this type of event with clients via zoom?
A: great suggestion, we will discuss this further, and provide an update soon.
UNANSWERED:
Q: With lockdowns early in the pandemic there were complaints from families about lack of contact with their loved one. (e.g. Newmarch House). Do we have text technology available to residential and community so that our clients can use video calls to relatives?
A: services have been using a variety of technologies to support contact between residents and their loved ones. One of these is Whiddon Connect, and app. Otherwise services have also been using Skype via iPads. Speak with your Manager, if you are unsure about how this is occurring at your own service.
QUESTION SENT POST THE SESSION VIA EMAIL:
Q: All staff got on board with RAT except for one staff member. The question from the staff that were in the meeting is “why was RAT not made mandatory so everyone has to do it?” I think they feel like they are all doing the right thing but we are allowing someone who is choosing not to do the right thing to continue coming to work.”
A: There are a few complexities to making RAT mandatory such as consultation requirements with employees and their representatives. Given the rapidly advancing nature of COVID-19 we needed to roll out RAT quickly. We certainly relied on the vast majority of our employees realising the intent of the RAT was to ensure, as much as reasonably possible the safety of our employees and residents. As you can see by the outcome almost all of our employees choose to participate in the testing.