Aged Care residences – COVID-19 updates

Rathdowne Place Aged Care

As of 6 August 2020, we have six employees and one resident connected to Rathdowne Place who have returned a positive result for COVID-19. All positive team members and their close contacts have completed or are currently completing their period of quarantine/self-isolation at home with our support and under the direction of the Public Health Unit. With respect to the positive resident, since their first positive result, this resident subsequently tested negative to COVID-19 four times (including twice while in hospital after being initially being transferred as a precaution)—they have now been cleared from isolation. 

At this stage, we're not aware of any clear link between these cases and it's highly possible the employee cases were all community acquired. Regular testing occurred on site at Rathdowne Place following notification of the first positive case to us, to ensure there wasn't any subsequent transmission within the home. Following the most recent round of repeat testing last week, we were advised of negative test results for all employees and residents. The PHU then confirmed that the ‘outbreak’ at Rathdowne Place has been stood down to a further period of ‘active surveillance’ for 14 days. Visitor restrictions remain in place and all employees are continuing to wear full PPE and are following appropriate infection prevention and control precautions.

Campbell Place Aged Care

At Campbell Place, we have two employees who have returned a positive result for COVID-19. A full round of precautionary/surveillance testing for Campbell Place employees and residents took place last week and all returned negative for COVID-19. A further round of testing will be completed this week. Again, there is no evidence that transmission of COVID-19 to these employees occurred within the home.

All residents and employees, along with resident representatives, have been kept informed of the situation at Rathdowne Place and Campbell Place through regular written communications, outbound phone calls and via our dedicated hotline.

Australian Unity was informed yesterday that an employee who last worked at Campbell Place Aged Care on Thursday, 23 July 2020 has tested positive for COVID-19. The affected employee was not showing any symptoms when they were last at work and they still don’t have any symptoms - they are now isolating at home and we are supporting them as needed.

All residents and employees, along with resident representatives and treating GPs, were informed of the situation yesterday and we will keep them well advised regarding next steps. All employees and all residents who can be will be tested this week for COVID-19 as a precautionary measure.

We continue to closely monitor the health of our residents - no residents or other employees at Campbell Place are currently displaying any COVID-19 symptoms.

We are doing everything possible to prevent the spread of this virus in our home. A deep clean was completed today and infection prevention and control measures are in place, including the implementation of full PPE throughout the home. Existing processes to screen and temperature check all employees and anyone else entering the home also remain in place.

What we're doing

The situation in Victoria understandably makes many of us feel concerned about how the coronavirus may impact on our families or loved ones. 

As media coverage about the impact of coronavirus on aged care homes has increased over the last few days, we’ve received several enquiries from residents and families about what we’re doing at our homes, and more broadly within Australian Unity, to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of residents and employees. To keep everyone informed and as up to date as possible, we’ve pulled together some frequently asked questions for your reference.

These are unprecedented times, and we deeply appreciate your ongoing support and patience.

Following community testing, an employee at our Rathdowne Place Aged Care home notified Australian Unity of a positive COVID-19 result last Thursday, 9 July 2020. Subsequently, over 200 of our employees and a number of residents were tested over the weekend. We were informed yesterday, 13 July 2020, that two further employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

None of the three employees were showing symptoms when they were last at work and they are now isolating at home with our support. Their close contacts are being managed in accordance with the Department of Health and Human Services' Public Health Unit's requirements.

All residents and employees, along with resident representatives, have been kept well advised of the situation. Remaining residents at the home will be tested—commencing this afternoon—as a precautionary measure.

We are following standard precaution infection control protocols, undertaking a deep clean of the home and using personal protective equipment as directed by the Public Health Unit.

The health, safety and wellbeing of our customers and our people remains our highest priority. We will continue to engage with health and other regulatory authorities as needed in relation to the management of this matter.

Victorian Residences

Due to increasing COVID-19 cases in Victoria, and the reinstated ‘Stage 3 Stay at Home’ restrictions announced by Premier Daniel Andrews yesterday afternoon, we will be temporarily restricting visitors from entering our Victorian homes unless they have a direct connection to essential service delivery. This temporary closure will commence at 11.59pm on Wednesday 8 July 2020 and will be reviewed in line with the community restrictions on Wednesday 19 August 2020.

As always, exceptions may be made for loved ones of residents with special needs (for example, complex dementia) and those who are receiving end of life care (palliating). These visits will be approved by the General Manager prior to entry, and additional infection control precautions may need to be taken.

The threat of COVID-19 remains very high to vulnerable people in the community, and by keeping visitors who enter the home to a minimum, we believe we’re able to provide the safest possible environment for our residents and the staff who care for them.

We understand this decision may be difficult and upsetting. Please be assured Australian Unity has made a considered assessment regarding the risk to our homes located in the Melbourne metropolitan region and we have decided this is the safest approach to take at this time.

We also ask that residents refrain from leaving the home during this time unless it is absolutely necessary (for example, for medical treatment that cannot be provided within the home).

We are seeking your support to ensure the risk of exposure to COVID-19 is minimised in our home. The steps above will allow residents within the home to continue to live their lives as normally as possible.

Thank you to our residents and families who have expressed their support and those who have already reconsidered their visits as the Melbourne area experiences a spike in positive cases.

Keep visiting, virtually

We encourage residents and families to stay connected via virtual visits, either by telephone or video calls. If you would like to arrange a facilitated call, please contact us at site to arrange a time.

Thank you again for your continued support and understanding.

Victorian Residences

Australian Unity has had stringent infection control procedures and restrictions in place at our aged care homes to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission. As indicated in yesterday’s communication, we will be restricting visits by people who live, work, visit (for example, for care or caregiving) or have children attending schools in the ‘hot spot’ suburbs. We will be updating our pre-entry screening questions (visitor declaration) to cover these matters.

You can expect to see changes to the way visitor appointments are made and non-essential services such as hairdressers and beauticians will also close temporarily. These changes will commence at midnight tonight and will be reviewed in two weeks’ time.

The recent increases in community transmissions of COVID-19 in Victoria represents a significant risk to vulnerable, older people. For the safety of all residents and our employees, regardless of where you reside, we strongly urge you to consider whether this is the right time to visit your loved one in person. We strongly encourage you to stay connected in other ways. We are continuing to waive telephone call charges and are facilitating virtual visits via telephone and video calls, including via CheckedIn Care.

We understand this decision may be upsetting, and sincerely thank you for your continued support to manage these risk factors.

Victorian Residences

We’re currently experiencing a higher number of active cases in Victoria than we’ve seen in more than two months. We can’t ease up on looking after ourselves and our families. Whatever you do and wherever you go, please be mindful of the risks of either acquiring or inadvertently transmitting this virus. Be aware that others may be carrying the virus and always practice physical distancing around anyone outside of your immediate household.

We’re asking all residents to reconsider if it’s necessary to leave the home at this time. Where possible, we strongly recommend that any movement into the community be limited to accessing essential services such as seeing a medical practitioner. Current evidence suggests that the rise in case numbers in Victoria is primarily being driven by families having get-togethers at home and likely not following advice around physical distancing (ie no hugging or kissing) and hygiene (ie not hand washing as often as necessary and sharing items that other people have touched). These are important messages, considering there is still community transmission occurring.

We request that families and loved ones of our residents consider whether visiting the home at this time is necessary, or whether it could be delayed for the time being. You’re encouraged to stay connected with your loved one's in other ways through virtual visits via telephone or video calls, with telephone call charges still waived.

This is particularly relevant for any potential visitors who reside in the identified Victorian ‘hot spot’ suburbs of Keilor Downs, Broadmeadows, Maidstone, Albanvale, Sunshine West, Hallam, Brunswick West, Fawkner, Reservoir and Pakenham.

We also wanted to let you know in advance that Australian Unity’s position is that if the Victorian Chief Health Officer puts a ‘stay at home’ direction in place for any specific suburb or local government area, then we intend to restrict entry by visitors from those suburbs into the home. This is to provide the best possible protection for our vulnerable residents.

NSW Residences

As you may be aware, Victoria is currently experiencing a higher number of active cases than has been seen in more than two months. As a result, on 25 June 2020, the Chief Health Officer NSW, Dr Kerry Chant, advised that until further notice, employees and visitors who have travelled to Melbourne in the previous 14 days are to be denied entry into any aged care facility in New South Wales. We have updated our visitor and employee declaration to reflect this new requirement.

Access restrictions to aged care facilities in NSW have also been eased and there is no longer a requirement to exclude children under 16 years of age from visiting.

Influenza vaccination continues to be required for all visitors and employees.  For those who are exempt from vaccination, there is now a requirement for a specific certificate to be provided. Exemption certificates provided to date are not required to be reissued in the new format.

Stay safe

In line with the government’s public health messaging, this is a reminder of how each and every one of us can help:

• Stay safe while out in the community.
• Stay safe at home. And that means only seeing those you need to. Don’t have big family gatherings and remember to keep your distance and maintain good hand and respiratory hygiene.
• If you, or anyone in your family is feeling unwell – stay at home.
• If anyone in your family has any of the symptoms of COVID-19, however mild, they should stay at home, seek advice and get tested.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic together.

While government directives restricting access to Residential Aged Care homes remain in place, during May we welcomed 5,012 visitors into our homes. We’re grateful for your cooperation as we work to provide everyone an opportunity to visit their loved ones while still maintaining appropriate infection control measures to protect the health and wellbeing of all residents and employees.

We are screening all visitors and employees through temperature and symptom checking, and entry declarations. Working within these restrictions we will continue to increase the availability of visitor appointments. Please contact us to book a time and talk to us about the new times available.

Visits must occur within a resident’s room and are limited to two visitors during any appointment for a maximum visit of two hours. We are engaging with residents and their families to provide tailored arrangements at times of care, comfort and special needs.

It is a government requirement that any person entering an aged care home must have an up-to-date vaccination against influenza, unless medically exempt. We require you to bring proof that you have received the vaccination, or proof that you have a medical exemption when visiting for the first time and a copy will be securely retained by us.

As restrictions ease and the community begins spending more time at shopping centres, cafes, in small gatherings at home and enjoying the return of footy, there is an increasing desire to leave our home for excursions. Until a vaccine is readily available, older Australians remain highly vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19 and we are still recommending that if you don’t absolutely have to leave the home, please consider whether this is the right time to do so.  If leaving our home for any reason, we remind everyone of what you can do to stay safe. This includes: 

• covering your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze with your elbow or a tissue  
• disposing of tissues immediately after they are used, into a dedicated waste bin and washing your hands  
• frequently practising hand hygiene 
• avoiding touching your face and eyes  
• using alcohol-based hand rub (sanitiser), where available  
• where possible, staying 1.5 metres away from other people  
• if you are sick, avoiding contact with others 
• downloading the COVIDSafe app to assist with tracking and tracing 

In addition, we have masks available to residents who are engaging in activities outside of our home and would encourage their use particularly if visiting places where social distancing will be difficult to maintain or where in contact with children or groups of unfamiliar people. For all residents who leave our home, we will initiate 72 hours of temperature monitoring on their return. 

We will review our current visitor restrictions on 30 June, in line with State Government directives.

Thank you to the many representatives, families and friends who have expressed support for our visitor program. Your support, whether it be by staying away or following our current visitor guidelines, is greatly appreciated.

While the easing of community restrictions has now commenced, we must remain vigilant as increased public movement means an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19 to visitors, residents and our employees.

Continued suppression of COVID-19 is about collective action. Success depends on maintaining our new community norms – physical distancing, good hygiene practices and downloading the COVIDSafe app to keep us all safe while we’re out and about.

Please be mindful that while we’re working hard to provide visitation access via appointments, for the safety of all residents and our employees, we are still recommending that if you don’t absolutely have to visit, consider whether this is the right time to do so.

We also strongly recommend that residents remain on site, except when they’re attending essential medical appointments. Residents leaving our home and mingling in the community means they are exposed to a greater risk of transmission and, in turn, they create an increased risk to other residents and our employees.

If it’s necessary for a resident to leave and go out into the community, we’re asking that an acknowledgment form be completed by the resident or their representative and that names and phone numbers of anyone the resident comes into contact with be retained. This will assist with any COVID-19 contact tracing, should that be required by the state government Public Health Unit.

Stage 3 restrictions remain in place across Australia to stop the spread of COVID-19. These restrictions include a ‘stay at home’ order only permitting people to leave home to shop for food and other necessary goods and services, access medical services or provide caregiving, attend work or education where you can’t do those things from home, and exercise. In addition, gatherings have been limited to no more than 2 people, and social distancing practices have become commonplace in our everyday lives.

Under the current state government directives in NSW and Victoria, access to residential aged care facilities is limited to people who meet the following criteria:

• an employee or contractor of the home,
• a person who is providing goods, services or providing health, medical or pharmaceutical services,
• a person who is providing care and support visits,
• a person who is present for the purpose of end of life support for a resident, or
• any person who is required to be present on the premises for the purposes of emergency management or law enforcement.

Of those people who are eligible to enter residential aged care facilities, if any of the following applies to them, then the state government directives prohibit them from entering:

• during the 14 days immediately before the proposed entry, the person arrived in Australia from a place outside Australia,
• during the 14 days immediately before the proposed entry, the person had known contact with a person who has a confirmed case of COVID-19,
• the person has a temperature higher than 37.5 degrees or symptoms of acute respiratory infection,
• the person does not have an up-to-date vaccination against influenza, if the vaccination is available to the person, or
• the person is aged under 16 years (other than for the purposes of providing end-of-life support for a resident of the home).

Enabling the safe return of visitors

Australian Unity has had stronger restrictions in place at our homes, to continue to mitigate the risk of transmission from the community and to protect the health and wellbeing of all residents and employees.

While we must continue to be vigilant, thankfully the rate of transmission of COVID-19 has slowed in the community and we can now look to increase face to face access for visitors and return some services for residents from Monday, 4 May 2020.

From Friday, 1 May 2020, hairdressing services will recommence with the salon set up to facilitate social distancing. We know this service has been greatly missed by residents and will be warmly welcomed back.

To enable residents to meet with their loved ones, while ensuring residents are still able to move freely within their home, we will be implementing strict visitor guidelines. Our residences are home to many residents and as such, we need to carefully manage how many visitors are coming into the home at any one time to enable us to limit the risk of exposure to infection including COVID-19 as much as possible.

You may have seen the Prime Minister’s address on Tuesday 21 April 2020, in which he discussed current state government restrictions on visitors to aged care facilities.  

Australian Unity has heightened our restrictions to ensure the protection of all residents and employees at each of our homes. We will be maintaining the current visitor restrictions until at least 4 May 2020.  

The threat of COVID-19 remains very high to vulnerable people in the community, and by keeping visitors who enter the home to a minimum, we believe we’re able to provide the safest possible environment for residents and our employees who care for them. 

During the heightened restrictions, daily routines are being maintained and residents can move freely throughout the home without having to manage risks associated with having visitors present who may be strangers to our residents. For many of our residents who have cognition issues, their ability to practice social distancing poses a particular risk. If visitors are provided access into all areas of the home (which would be the case if they need to walk through the home to get to a particular resident’s room), it reduces this ability for free movement.

While we’re currently preparing and putting in place additional protocols to enable us to roll back our restrictions and allow the safe return of visitors to our homes, we don’t believe we can do that just yet. In the meantime, you’re encouraged to stay connected to your loved one in other ways. We’ve waived telephone call charges and are continuing facilitate virtual visits via telephone or video calls, including via our new app, CheckedIn Care. 

Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), the national peak body representing a significant number of aged care providers including Australian Unity, continues to advocate for a precautionary approach to visitor restrictions in residential aged care, on a home-by-home basis, with the protection of residents and staff from COVID-19 a critical priority. Click here to read more.

The vulnerability of residents in aged care to COVID-19 remains high despite the positive impact that Level 3 restrictions and social distancing has had on COVID-19 transmissions within Australia.

Australian Unity believes it is essential that we continue to maintain heightened restrictions until at least 4 May 2020 to ensure the continued protection of residents and employees.

A key element of our Better Together philosophy is connection. To support connectedness between you and your loved one during this time, we have waived telephone call charges since 1 March 2020. We are pleased to also be introducing two new initiatives: virtual visits through the CheckedIn Care app and the Better Together challenge.

For more information on Better Together challenge view the ‘How you can help our residents stay connected’ tab.

The risk of exposure to COVID-19 remains extremely high for our residents. For that reason, we have made the decision to maintain the current Australian Unity visitor restrictions for a further 14 days, until at least 20 April 2020.

These heightened restrictions were originally put in place based on representative feedback and to reduce the known risk of community transmission. We understand the implications of this decision, and the ongoing distress this may cause, however we must continue to do all we can to protect residents, as well as our employees.

Despite the restrictions, we do welcome families dropping Easter cards, gifts and eggs to our teams at Reception and we will ensure their timely delivery to residents.

We also encourage exploring other methods of maintaining connection with your loved ones. To better enable this, we are waiving telephone charges, backdated to 1 March 2020, to support residents to communicate with family and friends more frequently. Families have been utilising phone calls, Skype or Facetime, letters, postcards or pictures.

Our team are facilitating these activities, which have so far been very much enjoyed by everyone.

Based on feedback we have received, and the heightened community restrictions announced by both the Australian and State Governments over the weekend we will now be restricting all visitors from entering our Aged Care sites unless they have a direct connection to essential service delivery.

These restrictions will commence at 8pm on Monday 23 March and will be reviewed in two weeks’ time.

Exceptions may be made for loved ones of those residents with special needs (i.e. complex dementia) and those who are palliating.

Residents within the home will continue to live their lives as normally as possible. However, non-essential services such as cafés, hairdressers and beauticians will also close temporarily, and lifestyle activities will be revised to smaller group or one-to-one activities to allow for appropriate social distancing.

We understand this decision will be very difficult and upsetting for our residents and their loved ones. However, due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the community, we need to take all possible measures to protect those who are most vulnerable.

Victorian Government

You may have seen the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrew’s announcement yesterday afternoon, which announced from 11.59pm tonight, Wednesday 1 July 2020, postcodes identified as ‘hot zones’ will be required to return to Stage 3 ‘stay at home’ restrictions until at least 29 July 2020.

The following suburbs have stay at home restrictions from midnight:

• 3012: Brooklyn, Kingsville, Maidstone, Tottenham, West Footscray
• 3021: Albanvale, Kealba, Kings Park, St Albans
• 3032: Ascot Vale, Highpoint City, Maribyrnong, Travancore
• 3038: Keilor Downs, Keilor Lodge, Taylors Lakes, Watergardens
• 3042: Airport West, Keilor Park, Niddrie
• 3046: Glenroy, Hadfield, Oak Park
• 3047: Broadmeadows, Dallas, Jacana
• 3055: Brunswick South, Brunswick West, Moonee Vale, Moreland West
• 3060: Fawkner
• 3064: Craigieburn, Donnybrook, Mickelham, Roxburgh Park, Kalkallo

These restrictions only permit people to leave home for four reasons; to shop for food and supplies, care and caregiving, exercise, and study or work – if you can’t do it from home.

On 18 March, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced new measures for protecting our most vulnerable people. This announcement included increased site restrictions to Aged Care residences, including:

No access will be permitted to people who:

• have returned from overseas in the last 14 days
• have been in contact with a person who has a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the last 14 days
• are currently experiencing fever or symptoms of acute respiratory infection (e.g. cough, sore throat, runny nose, shortness of breath)
• after 1 May 2020, no access will be granted to people who have not been vaccinated this year for influenza.

Visits:

• are limited to a maximum of two people (family members, close friends or professional service providers) visiting at one time per day for each resident
• must be short in duration, maintaining social distancing practices (1.5 metres)
• must be held in the resident’s room or outdoors, not in common areas.

There will also be:

• no large gatherings or social entertainment within the residence
• no school groups of any size allowed to visit
• restrictions that prevent children aged 16 or under from visiting, unless exceptional circumstances apply (for example, if their loved one is palliative).

We're all feeling the impact of social isolation, especially our youngest and oldest. Our youngins can find themselves bored at home, while our oldest are without visitors.

If you have a spare moment, why not send through a few words or pictures to lift the spirits of residents and those that care for them? The Better Together challenge aims to connect our residents and carers with the broader community, and to remind them that they are not alone during this difficult time.

Our Better Together challenge invites you and your kids to draw, take pictures of baking achievements, write stories and letters to share with our residents and those caring for them.

Resources:

We've pulled together a selection of resources to get you started:

• Colouring in pages
• Story prompts

Keep checking back here as we add more resources.

What you need to do:

1. Download the resources, or do your own thing
2. Scan or take a picture of your results
3. Send them to bettertogether@australianunity.com.au and be sure to tell us if you have a specific home you want this to get to.

Other ways to get involved

Feel free to share the Better Together challenge with your:

• child's school or kindergarten;
• local sporting club;
• neighbours or friends; and
• grandkids, nieces, nephews or other extended family.

You can also express your interest to join our pen pal program – email us at bettertogether@australianunity.com.au

Better Together is about how we each play our part to make the whole stronger. Although we may be separated by distance we can get through this together. Together is better!

By participating in the Better Together challenge and emailing your letters, stories or pictures to us, you agree that we may give them to residents and carers, display them at our residential aged care sites, and post them on our websites and social media pages for the purpose of promoting the Better Together challenge. If you send us pictures of other people, you agree you have obtained the relevant person's consent, or you (as the parent or guardian of any other child whose photo is provided) consent to provide the images to us. We won't post any images online that identify your child. If you don't want your content to be posted online, you can let us know at the time you send the content to bettertogether@australianunity.com.au.