Warrigal management is hopeful its aged care facility in Goulburn will emerge from lockdown on Friday, January 21.
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The charitable organisation's CEO Mark Sewell said there were currently no residents infected with COVID-19, down from four, but four staff still had the virus, a drop from the previously reported four.
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It comes as Mr Sewell, a director of peak body, Aged Care Community Services (ACCS), and unions call on the federal government to deploy the Defence Force to provide emergency support and assistance to "overwhelmed aged care workers" in the nation's nursing homes.
Mr Sewell told The Post the Goulburn facility had been free of infection for several days. The Public Health Unit generally requested a further week's lockdown since the last infection-free day but Warrigal was hoping to reduce this to three days. Residents and staff are being tested daily.
It's been a long haul since Warrigal was closed to visitors on January 1. Two of the 148 residents contracted COVID-19 after spending Christmas with their families.
Mr Sewell acknowledged the workforce pressures, difficulty of securing rapid antigen tests and lack of 'surge' support staff from the state and federal governments had imposed difficulties.
At its peak, 20 of the 122 staff were isolating, including close contacts.
"That imposed very significant pressure, particularly last week," Mr Sewell said.
But staff across Warrigal's 11 facilities had pulled "together." The CEO said lifestyle and entertainment workers had jumped in to deliver meals, sanitise and clean areas.
He acknowledged staff were working longer hours, including double shifts, managers were working on the floor and personnel from other Warrigal facilities were helping out.
"Everyone is pitching in. It's not the same level of care delivery we hope and expect but when we have skeleton staff, we can only do the essentials," he said.
"Certainly staff are becoming exhausted."
'RATs in short supply'
Mr Sewell said the organisation had been paying staff a 150 per cent loading for every shift they worked during lockdown. In addition, they were given free meals and drinks, gestures which acknowledged the difficulty of working in full PPE gear for up to 12 hours a day.
In a departure from the norm, Warrigal has also also introduced a 'Partners in Care' program. Seventeen families in Goulburn had volunteered to undergo online training in infection control, crisis care and PPE protocols to help out in the facility during the shortages. They included retired teachers, nurses, social service workers and other occupations.
"They are mostly helping out relatives but they end up assisting others as well. They are a great help to staff. It has only just started but it's been a godsend," Mr Sewell said.
Eleven people have been so far approved under the program. Mr Sewell hoped the program could continue.
He said much of this would not be necessary if the state and federal governments had delivered on their promised 'surge workforce' support.
Last week, ACCS and other aged care peak bodies joined with unions to call for Defence Force support, a 'home guard' style system where everyday people assist in facilities, free PPE and Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs).
"We are in direct meetings weekly with the Health and Ageing ministers calling for this," Mr Sewel said.
"...The message seems to be getting through but it looks like the federal government has been caught out in its response. That's the problem; it was not well planned. All aged care residents should have had their booster shots and there should have been a massive stockpile of RATs and PPE for facilities before the economy opened up.
"...Older people are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 and if it gets into aged care facilities, they are not protected."
Warrigal is using 1000 RATs daily on staff and resident testing across its nursing homes. Goulburn is using 110 per day. The cost of each had risen from $6.50 to $15 and became a matter of "beg, borrow and steal," the CEO told The Post.
The regime was also necessary because "public health PCR testing had collapsed."
The first free box of RATs arrived this week and was used in one day.
Mr Sewell said it had been very difficult for residents to be restricted to their rooms, with no contact, other than some Facetime, with their families. But as a generation that had lived through global disasters they had been resilient and encouraging of staff.
He hoped the Goulburn complex remained opened but said the industry had been advised that the impending return to school could be a "high-risk" time.
Meantime, Warrigal's Bundanoon facility remains in lockdown. One resident and 14 staff were infected on January 10. Nine staff have since recovered but staffing remained a challenge. "All going well," the complex could open next week.
In related news, Goulburn's Waminda Aged Care Plus emerged from almost four weeks' lockdown on Thursday. The federal department of health confirmed seven residents and 10 staff had previously contracted COVID-19.
The Masonic Village in Goulburn also re-opened on Monday after the same period. Previously, two residents and three staff tested positive.
It's understood Southern Cross Care's Tension aged care facility has emerged from lockdown, following recovery of two residents and three staff.
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Louise Thrower
If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0418 229 678.
If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0418 229 678.
