9 July 2021
As a reminder, due to the COVID-19 situation in Sydney, residential aged care homes in Greater Sydney (including Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour), must exclude visitors. This applies to Whiddon Easton Park.
We genuinely understand that this is a very difficult time for you and your family. We want you to know that our teams are working hard to keep you connected to your loved ones wherever we can through phone and video calls. We are also offering increased activities to help residents remain stimulated, engaged and connected during this time and are sharing these on our Facebook page.
We wanted to share the update below with you and remind you to regularly check the COVID-19 page on our website.
COVID-19 vaccination now mandated for residential aged care workers
We wanted to provide an update about the Government’s recent decision to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for residential aged care employees. Whiddon fully supports the announcement, as protecting those in our care and the people caring for them, is our highest priority.
From 17 September it will be a requirement for all aged care employees to have had at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, we are encouraging our employees who have not yet had their vaccine, to have it sooner. For some months now, we have been actively encouraging our employees to have the vaccine through running a number of internal campaigns.
We have also been advocating for in-reach workplace clinics to administer the vaccine onsite to employees. We are pleased to share with you that we will be hosting a vaccination clinic onsite next week at Easton Park, where many more of our staff will be able to access the vaccine. There has been a waitlist to have the Pfizer vaccine, so there has been a delay due to the lack of access to this vaccine. In-reach clinics will help fast-track access to the vaccine.
The mandate will also apply to our volunteers and contractors. While it is not mandatory for visitors, we are also encouraging visitors to our care homes to have the vaccine. It is one of the best lines of defence that we have against COVID-19.
Single site arrangements
Given the COVID-19 situation in Sydney, workers at residential aged care facilities in impacted areas are asked to limit their work to a single facility to reduce the risk of transmission and protect workers and residents. This applies to Whiddon Easton Park. We have been working with our staff to help ensure that they work with their primary employer only for now, as an additional measure to help keep everyone in our family safe.
Deliveries
The screening station at the entrance to Whiddon Easton Park (off Belmont Road) has returned. In the interests of everyone’s safety, we ask that you limit delivery of items to essential items only, which can be accepted at the gate between 8 am and 4pm only. We do ask that you wear a mask, go only to the gate and do not attend if you have been to any venues or locations of concern or are unwell. Please note the stay-at-home orders that are in place for Greater Sydney which have now been extended.
Staying connected with us
If you would like to talk to us about your loved one’s care or if you have any concerns, please contact our team on the relevant phone number below:
For Arthur Webb Court: 02 9827 6725
For Easton Park Units: 02 9827 6735
For Sir David Martin: 02 9827 6666
For Taylor House: 02 9827 6774
We thank you for your understanding.