Newsletter
Website Update 22/4/24
Covid
All the residents are now getting back to normal, albeit 3 residents still in isolation until Wed/Thurs.
An additional staff member tested positive yesterday (Sunday) who had worked in a positive wing last week, whilst things are improving immensely, the odd case pops up – staff are required to continue to wear masks this week & shields as necessary.
As our usual activities program will not commence until next week, as of today we are doing bus trips around the area in small groups. All going well we will plan an Anzac Services on Thursday; this decision will be made on Wednesday as to the format for the service.
Hairdressing services will commence individually tomorrow.
Whilst all residents have not been unwell during the outbreak, which is good. Staff do a great job. The need to continue to purchase PPE is costly, thanks to the Council’s donation of tests they were greatly appreciated.
Covid
All the residents are now getting back to normal, albeit 3 residents still in isolation until Wed/Thurs.
An additional staff member tested positive yesterday (Sunday) who had worked in a positive wing last week, whilst things are improving immensely, the odd case pops up – staff are required to continue to wear masks this week & shields as necessary.
As our usual activities program will not commence until next week, as of today we are doing bus trips around the area in small groups. All going well we will plan an Anzac Services on Thursday; this decision will be made on Wednesday as to the format for the service.
Hairdressing services will commence individually tomorrow.
Whilst all residents have not been unwell during the outbreak, which is good. Staff do a great job. The need to continue to purchase PPE is costly, thanks to the Council’s donation of tests they were greatly appreciated.
Website Update 19/4/24
Covid
All the people who have remained negative are out of quarantine today. We have asked the separate wings not to mingle too much until after the weekend and we will test them all again on Sunday.
The first of the positive residents are technically out of isolation today but because they are in Oak and Orchid and there are still a number in isolation those wings will remain separate until Monday when most of them are clear. We will then only have the 2 stragglers in individual room isolation until Wed/Thur.
We ended up with 11 staff – all were exposed Thur/Fri last week prior to the first residents turning positive.
TV Signal
The technician who came yesterday also informed us that the problem is Ararat wide and is a result of the works on one tree hill. Apparently, many households will need to acquire boosters as well as us.
Covid
All the people who have remained negative are out of quarantine today. We have asked the separate wings not to mingle too much until after the weekend and we will test them all again on Sunday.
The first of the positive residents are technically out of isolation today but because they are in Oak and Orchid and there are still a number in isolation those wings will remain separate until Monday when most of them are clear. We will then only have the 2 stragglers in individual room isolation until Wed/Thur.
We ended up with 11 staff – all were exposed Thur/Fri last week prior to the first residents turning positive.
TV Signal
The technician who came yesterday also informed us that the problem is Ararat wide and is a result of the works on one tree hill. Apparently, many households will need to acquire boosters as well as us.
. Website Update 18/4/24
Covid Outbreak
REMEMBER ALL RESIDENTS CAN HAVE VISITORS – EVEN THOSE WITH COVID BUT YOU VISIT AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Today we had a resident in Wattle Wing test positive – the only one we hope -however this will not affect the rest of Wattle/Ivy.
Ivy wing will be out Friday morning as planned.
Wattle residents will be retested Friday morning and all being well will also be out as they have had no contact with the affected person since last Friday.
Rose wing will be tested again Friday and other than the 2 positive people in that wing will also be out – one of the 2 positives in Rose will be out on Sunday, the other on Monday.
Orchid and Oak will be out on Monday with the exception of the resident who tested positive yesterday who will be out on Wednesday.
While staff can come back after 5 days due to wearing masks etc positive residents are still supposed to isolate for 7 days.
Those who are due can all still have their booster in May when we do Fluvax with the only condition now is it being 6 months from their last vaccine.
We have had a number of enquiries about the TV signal.
The situation is this. Last week, a couple of residents had intermittent problems with the signal dropping out. The maintenance staff – who are not TV repairmen – checked those individual TVs as best they could and on most occasions when they did so the problem did not actually occur. Initially it appeared to be a related to a particular TV. However, on Monday after everyone had spent the weekend in their rooms it was more widespread. Being outside the men’s area of expertise, a technician was contacted who came on Wednesday – which is pretty fast for a tradie these days. He has informed us that the booster box that distributes signal to the 60 plus TVs in the building is struggling especially as there are a lot of smart TVs here now which are more demanding of signal strength. A bigger booster has been ordered and will be installed as soon as possible. While it is unfortunate that this coincides with quarantine, without the demands of quarantine we would probably not have discovered the issue. The lifestyle staff have done their best to provide other options and we are doing our best to keep the length of quarantine and isolation to a minimum.
What some people may not realise is that if the residents were all out and about with their covid or if we just let them all get it (as has been suggested) we would eventually have no staff to look after them as they HAVE to stay away for 5 days and the supply is not unlimited. Currently we restrict staff to either negative or positive areas for that reason. I am happy to bend the rules a bit and use some common sense but there is a limit to what is reasonable.
Covid Outbreak
REMEMBER ALL RESIDENTS CAN HAVE VISITORS – EVEN THOSE WITH COVID BUT YOU VISIT AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Today we had a resident in Wattle Wing test positive – the only one we hope -however this will not affect the rest of Wattle/Ivy.
Ivy wing will be out Friday morning as planned.
Wattle residents will be retested Friday morning and all being well will also be out as they have had no contact with the affected person since last Friday.
Rose wing will be tested again Friday and other than the 2 positive people in that wing will also be out – one of the 2 positives in Rose will be out on Sunday, the other on Monday.
Orchid and Oak will be out on Monday with the exception of the resident who tested positive yesterday who will be out on Wednesday.
While staff can come back after 5 days due to wearing masks etc positive residents are still supposed to isolate for 7 days.
Those who are due can all still have their booster in May when we do Fluvax with the only condition now is it being 6 months from their last vaccine.
We have had a number of enquiries about the TV signal.
The situation is this. Last week, a couple of residents had intermittent problems with the signal dropping out. The maintenance staff – who are not TV repairmen – checked those individual TVs as best they could and on most occasions when they did so the problem did not actually occur. Initially it appeared to be a related to a particular TV. However, on Monday after everyone had spent the weekend in their rooms it was more widespread. Being outside the men’s area of expertise, a technician was contacted who came on Wednesday – which is pretty fast for a tradie these days. He has informed us that the booster box that distributes signal to the 60 plus TVs in the building is struggling especially as there are a lot of smart TVs here now which are more demanding of signal strength. A bigger booster has been ordered and will be installed as soon as possible. While it is unfortunate that this coincides with quarantine, without the demands of quarantine we would probably not have discovered the issue. The lifestyle staff have done their best to provide other options and we are doing our best to keep the length of quarantine and isolation to a minimum.
What some people may not realise is that if the residents were all out and about with their covid or if we just let them all get it (as has been suggested) we would eventually have no staff to look after them as they HAVE to stay away for 5 days and the supply is not unlimited. Currently we restrict staff to either negative or positive areas for that reason. I am happy to bend the rules a bit and use some common sense but there is a limit to what is reasonable.
Website Update 16/4/24
Covid Outbreak
REMEMBER ALL RESIDENTS CAN HAVE VISITORS – EVEN THOSE WITH COVID BUT YOU VISIT AT YOUR OWN RISK.
We have tested all our previously negative residents again today and they remain negative. That means the residents of Wattle and Ivy Wings. There are currently 2 residents in Rose who are positive, 4 in Oak and 13 in Orchid. It would not have surprised anyone if all Orchid and Oak had got it due to the difficulties in keeping people from mingling, but a couple seem to have resisted. All are well. Some have a bit of a cough but many have no symptoms.
We gave the antivirals to everyone anyway.
A few staff who worked on Thursday evening and Friday morning in either Orchid or Oak before we knew we had an outbreak have tested positive since Saturday – not enough to affect the roster. Good news is that the staff only have to be absent for 5 days now.
With regard to the quarantined residents (negative) in Wattle/Ivy, I will start letting them out on Wednesday into their respective courtyard, then if all neg on Thursday they can move freely about their Wings then out into their dining areas on Friday. Rose Wing we will test for a couple more days before making a decision as they are not all negative.
I will not be waiting for 7 days after the last resident tests positive though in order to allow the negative residents out of quarantine. We have done that in the past as we are supposed to and it has extended the quarantine to ridiculous lengths. It is also not logical. If we have only 2 positive residents, we only have to isolate them – not put everyone into their rooms, so why would you not do the same at the end of an outbreak. If there are 1 or 2 stragglers they can stay in individual isolation and let the others go about their business.
Covid Outbreak
REMEMBER ALL RESIDENTS CAN HAVE VISITORS – EVEN THOSE WITH COVID BUT YOU VISIT AT YOUR OWN RISK.
We have tested all our previously negative residents again today and they remain negative. That means the residents of Wattle and Ivy Wings. There are currently 2 residents in Rose who are positive, 4 in Oak and 13 in Orchid. It would not have surprised anyone if all Orchid and Oak had got it due to the difficulties in keeping people from mingling, but a couple seem to have resisted. All are well. Some have a bit of a cough but many have no symptoms.
We gave the antivirals to everyone anyway.
A few staff who worked on Thursday evening and Friday morning in either Orchid or Oak before we knew we had an outbreak have tested positive since Saturday – not enough to affect the roster. Good news is that the staff only have to be absent for 5 days now.
With regard to the quarantined residents (negative) in Wattle/Ivy, I will start letting them out on Wednesday into their respective courtyard, then if all neg on Thursday they can move freely about their Wings then out into their dining areas on Friday. Rose Wing we will test for a couple more days before making a decision as they are not all negative.
I will not be waiting for 7 days after the last resident tests positive though in order to allow the negative residents out of quarantine. We have done that in the past as we are supposed to and it has extended the quarantine to ridiculous lengths. It is also not logical. If we have only 2 positive residents, we only have to isolate them – not put everyone into their rooms, so why would you not do the same at the end of an outbreak. If there are 1 or 2 stragglers they can stay in individual isolation and let the others go about their business.
Please be aware we strongly encourage all visitors to have all recommended vaccinations, including flu and Covid-19, prior to visiting residents at Gorrinn Village.
12th April 2024
As you will have seen from the text we have a Covid outbreak. We had a staff member test positive on Wed who had not worked for almost 48 hours and was negative and symptom free when they did work so thought we were pretty safe. Apparently not. It was one of our food service staff and his last shift was in Orchid/Rose/Oak kitchenette. Today we had a resident in Orchid with symptoms and tested her and it was positive. We then tested all the other Orchid residents and found 4 more positives – only 1 of whom had a mild sniffle. Of course we then tested the rest of the building and found a positive but symptom free resident in Oak. All other residents are negative and symptom free. So – Orchid and Oak are in full isolation. The other wings and residents are in quarantine in their rooms. They will all be tested again on Sunday or earlier if anyone develops symptoms.
All positive residents have been commenced on antiviral meds from this evening.
If anyone else becomes positive we will as usual contact their family. The weekend RN in charge – Sukhi - will phone the family’s of each positive resident each day. We hope it stays confined to the current area but as everyone has been together a lot over the last few days that may not happen.
It is Sukhi’s birthday today – what a gift!
I will update here on Monday.
As you will have seen from the text we have a Covid outbreak. We had a staff member test positive on Wed who had not worked for almost 48 hours and was negative and symptom free when they did work so thought we were pretty safe. Apparently not. It was one of our food service staff and his last shift was in Orchid/Rose/Oak kitchenette. Today we had a resident in Orchid with symptoms and tested her and it was positive. We then tested all the other Orchid residents and found 4 more positives – only 1 of whom had a mild sniffle. Of course we then tested the rest of the building and found a positive but symptom free resident in Oak. All other residents are negative and symptom free. So – Orchid and Oak are in full isolation. The other wings and residents are in quarantine in their rooms. They will all be tested again on Sunday or earlier if anyone develops symptoms.
All positive residents have been commenced on antiviral meds from this evening.
If anyone else becomes positive we will as usual contact their family. The weekend RN in charge – Sukhi - will phone the family’s of each positive resident each day. We hope it stays confined to the current area but as everyone has been together a lot over the last few days that may not happen.
It is Sukhi’s birthday today – what a gift!
I will update here on Monday.
Website Update January 2024
Welcome to the update - the first for 2024!
Well, we got through Christmas without a Covid outbreak, although there were a couple of scares.
Here we are in 2024 with an enormous amount of work ahead of us. The current word from the new building is that the kitchen and laundry and the surrounding areas should be ready for occupation at the end of February. Hopefully, the full building will be in use by the end of May. What is already done does look fabulous though.
It is starting to look recognizably like a building at least with internal walls going up. The biggest problem the last few weeks has been trying to keep the water lying on the slab from joining us in this building where the building site meets areas we are still using. Both Santosh and Krystal’s offices were under a couple of inches of water over Christmas /New year and are now devoid of floor coverings.
On the industry front there is a bucket more regulation coming this year. A new Aged Care Act – the first review since 1997. Only 347 pages for me to read. New standards – again- the current ones only in force for 4 years. More reporting, which threatens to take up more of our time every week. A new Statement of Rights, which is the same as the Code of Conduct which is the same as the obligations in the standards and the same as the Residents Rights document. The do like repeating themselves. Lots of lovely woke language in everything. Apparently, we will need to make sure all our care is “trauma aware and healing informed”. Your guess is a good as mine.
This week a report has landed about the star ratings and while I hate so say “ I told you so” I am saying ‘I told you so”. Apparently they are – to quote the report – “grossly ineffective as a comparison tool and ignoring the obvious data integrity issues (code for faking, which I said would happen), the reliance on self reported, largely unvetted data (you may remember I said the Agency wasn’t interested in checking our collection info against what went in to the Dept) makes the ratings invalid.”
The worst part of the report is that the most unreliable data is the Department’s compliance section - the bit that the facilities cannot fake. Apparently, a lot of facilities who are on the non compliance register and some who have been non compliant with nearly all the standards for years are being given 5 star compliance ratings by the Department. I have always referred to the star ratings as stupid but now I think I will change it to “shonky”.
The other really stupid thing the Department has done – and I am spoilt for choice – is deciding the best way to measure quality care is to count minutes per day. I strongly think that mandatory carer to resident ratios and banning multi skilling would have been a much more effective way of improving care in those facilities that were not doing that for themselves. Minutes just look good on paper and like the star ratings are very rortable. You can only count the hours worked by certain staff regardless of what they or anyone else does. Apparently, cooking food for residents, fixing the lights in their room, washing their clothes and cleaning their rooms is not ‘care’. The solution to your care minutes deficit? Employ people under the title of personal carer then get them to do the cleaning, food service, laundry and you can count their hours as care minutes – problem solved - except they no longer have time to actually physically look after residents as they are too busy doing the dishes
Welcome to the update - the first for 2024!
Well, we got through Christmas without a Covid outbreak, although there were a couple of scares.
Here we are in 2024 with an enormous amount of work ahead of us. The current word from the new building is that the kitchen and laundry and the surrounding areas should be ready for occupation at the end of February. Hopefully, the full building will be in use by the end of May. What is already done does look fabulous though.
It is starting to look recognizably like a building at least with internal walls going up. The biggest problem the last few weeks has been trying to keep the water lying on the slab from joining us in this building where the building site meets areas we are still using. Both Santosh and Krystal’s offices were under a couple of inches of water over Christmas /New year and are now devoid of floor coverings.
On the industry front there is a bucket more regulation coming this year. A new Aged Care Act – the first review since 1997. Only 347 pages for me to read. New standards – again- the current ones only in force for 4 years. More reporting, which threatens to take up more of our time every week. A new Statement of Rights, which is the same as the Code of Conduct which is the same as the obligations in the standards and the same as the Residents Rights document. The do like repeating themselves. Lots of lovely woke language in everything. Apparently, we will need to make sure all our care is “trauma aware and healing informed”. Your guess is a good as mine.
This week a report has landed about the star ratings and while I hate so say “ I told you so” I am saying ‘I told you so”. Apparently they are – to quote the report – “grossly ineffective as a comparison tool and ignoring the obvious data integrity issues (code for faking, which I said would happen), the reliance on self reported, largely unvetted data (you may remember I said the Agency wasn’t interested in checking our collection info against what went in to the Dept) makes the ratings invalid.”
The worst part of the report is that the most unreliable data is the Department’s compliance section - the bit that the facilities cannot fake. Apparently, a lot of facilities who are on the non compliance register and some who have been non compliant with nearly all the standards for years are being given 5 star compliance ratings by the Department. I have always referred to the star ratings as stupid but now I think I will change it to “shonky”.
The other really stupid thing the Department has done – and I am spoilt for choice – is deciding the best way to measure quality care is to count minutes per day. I strongly think that mandatory carer to resident ratios and banning multi skilling would have been a much more effective way of improving care in those facilities that were not doing that for themselves. Minutes just look good on paper and like the star ratings are very rortable. You can only count the hours worked by certain staff regardless of what they or anyone else does. Apparently, cooking food for residents, fixing the lights in their room, washing their clothes and cleaning their rooms is not ‘care’. The solution to your care minutes deficit? Employ people under the title of personal carer then get them to do the cleaning, food service, laundry and you can count their hours as care minutes – problem solved - except they no longer have time to actually physically look after residents as they are too busy doing the dishes
Website Update 6/11/23
Welcome to the update.
Firstly, you will be receiving your Care Reports today. There will also be a copy of the Care Plan and Lifestyle Assessments with them. If you wish to have anything explained don’t hesitate to contact us.
On the Care Report you will see a heading Care Classif. with a number. This is the level of care that the Dept has assessed the person at. Levels 2 to 8 are for residents who have some mobility and then varying degrees of other health issues. Levels 9 to 13 are for residents who are immobile as well as having other needs. Level 1 is exclusively for a resident who is admitted specifically for end of life care. The assessors are external and even they are not allowed to know what level their assessments result in so we can only guess. It has been in place for 2 years now so we have identified some things. For example, we think the difference between a level 11 and a level 13 is that the lower classification is if the person can speak and the higher if they cannot. Level 12 remains a mystery to us.
We have discovered – we think - why our staffing star rating is 1 when we have so many staff on duty. The Dept published the care minutes figures on their website – ours were zero. Zero total care minutes and zero RN minutes. Apparently, the residents are alone in the building. The accompanying note said “below target” which would be an understatement of the same level as the Ambulance service some years ago who described the redirection of Fentanyl from the patients to the paramedics who were stealing it as “suboptimal pain relief”. Not surprising that they have just paused the latest star ratings due to technical issues.
Last week Barb had to report a huge amount of financial information and today she got a please explain – apparently their system has calculated our staff payrate as $5.78 per hour and our profit as 3 million dollars. Some of the systems at the Dept clearly leave a lot to be desired.
News
We had a very successful open garden day on Sunday. The Ladies Auxillary made $8,000 from all their hard work which is astonishing.
Our new building is moving along and although it was extremely inconvenient not having the power on for 10 hours on 2 days last week it is over and done with now and we have a whole new electricity set up and a brand new generator to show for it.
We will however be having Christmas dinner in this building again this year and space is limited so depending on how many residents are staying in we may have to limit the number of guests again. The best thing to do is let us know as soon as you can if you are taking your relative out for Christmas dinner. That way we can calculate how many visitors those who are staying in can have.
All eligible residents had another Covid vaccination the week before last. Some will have to wait another couple of months due to having only had one in July (thanks to the Christmas outbreak) and some will have to wait until March next year (thanks to the August outbreak). Outbreaks really mess up our schedule.
On the other hand, everyone is enjoying having the staff and visitors out of masks and no RATs for visitors. The hospital aged care facilities have 2 outbreaks at present so we are still being vigilant.
Welcome to the update.
Firstly, you will be receiving your Care Reports today. There will also be a copy of the Care Plan and Lifestyle Assessments with them. If you wish to have anything explained don’t hesitate to contact us.
On the Care Report you will see a heading Care Classif. with a number. This is the level of care that the Dept has assessed the person at. Levels 2 to 8 are for residents who have some mobility and then varying degrees of other health issues. Levels 9 to 13 are for residents who are immobile as well as having other needs. Level 1 is exclusively for a resident who is admitted specifically for end of life care. The assessors are external and even they are not allowed to know what level their assessments result in so we can only guess. It has been in place for 2 years now so we have identified some things. For example, we think the difference between a level 11 and a level 13 is that the lower classification is if the person can speak and the higher if they cannot. Level 12 remains a mystery to us.
We have discovered – we think - why our staffing star rating is 1 when we have so many staff on duty. The Dept published the care minutes figures on their website – ours were zero. Zero total care minutes and zero RN minutes. Apparently, the residents are alone in the building. The accompanying note said “below target” which would be an understatement of the same level as the Ambulance service some years ago who described the redirection of Fentanyl from the patients to the paramedics who were stealing it as “suboptimal pain relief”. Not surprising that they have just paused the latest star ratings due to technical issues.
Last week Barb had to report a huge amount of financial information and today she got a please explain – apparently their system has calculated our staff payrate as $5.78 per hour and our profit as 3 million dollars. Some of the systems at the Dept clearly leave a lot to be desired.
News
We had a very successful open garden day on Sunday. The Ladies Auxillary made $8,000 from all their hard work which is astonishing.
Our new building is moving along and although it was extremely inconvenient not having the power on for 10 hours on 2 days last week it is over and done with now and we have a whole new electricity set up and a brand new generator to show for it.
We will however be having Christmas dinner in this building again this year and space is limited so depending on how many residents are staying in we may have to limit the number of guests again. The best thing to do is let us know as soon as you can if you are taking your relative out for Christmas dinner. That way we can calculate how many visitors those who are staying in can have.
All eligible residents had another Covid vaccination the week before last. Some will have to wait another couple of months due to having only had one in July (thanks to the Christmas outbreak) and some will have to wait until March next year (thanks to the August outbreak). Outbreaks really mess up our schedule.
On the other hand, everyone is enjoying having the staff and visitors out of masks and no RATs for visitors. The hospital aged care facilities have 2 outbreaks at present so we are still being vigilant.
Website Update 22/9/23
Even though the guidelines have not changed and based on both our risk level and the fact that we have to stop sometime we have decided to abandon masks for staff and visitors from October 2nd.
Visitors will no longer have to test either but declarations will still be needed.
Staff will still test but not as often.
Residents will still be screened for symptoms of everything everyday.
This will all be conditional on everybody being extremely vigilant about symptoms and contacts.
If you have been around anyone with covid or any other respiratory ailment please do not visit.
If you have symptoms of any sort of respiratory ailment please do a RAT and voluntarily wear a mask if negative – they will still be available in the foyer.
We trust you all to do the right thing.
Obviously if we have an outbreak we will be back into masks and RATS for the duration of it.
Even though the guidelines have not changed and based on both our risk level and the fact that we have to stop sometime we have decided to abandon masks for staff and visitors from October 2nd.
Visitors will no longer have to test either but declarations will still be needed.
Staff will still test but not as often.
Residents will still be screened for symptoms of everything everyday.
This will all be conditional on everybody being extremely vigilant about symptoms and contacts.
If you have been around anyone with covid or any other respiratory ailment please do not visit.
If you have symptoms of any sort of respiratory ailment please do a RAT and voluntarily wear a mask if negative – they will still be available in the foyer.
We trust you all to do the right thing.
Obviously if we have an outbreak we will be back into masks and RATS for the duration of it.
Website Update 11/8/23
Well, what a difference a few days makes. On Monday we had a small outbreak which started in Rose Wing but of course by the time we realized it was already being incubated elsewhere. On Wednesday we had a round of PCR tests done and were keen to get the results so we could decide whether it would be better to move all the positive residents into one wing or not.
Well apparently, there is no rush on processing tests any more so we didn’t get the first lot of results through for more than 24 hours. Before that we had done RATs on a few people and found more positives ourselves. This included some in Orchid so we decided to try reverse isolation and keep the negative residents in their rooms where possible. When I still didn’t have all the other results by 48 hours after they were collected, I contacted the Dept who checked their data base for me and told us what we already knew – that it was in Orchid and would no doubt eventually go right through due to the whole wing. They also confirmed the positive results in other wings that we had found for ourselves. I informed the Dept that 48 hours was too long and we would do rounds of RATS instead and they agreed.
So, where are we at?
We currently have 23 positive residents – most of whom are from Rose and Orchid so that area is now an isolation area from the doors into the Rose dining room through both wings.
All are on antivirals and have either very mild or no symptoms at all.
This is more like our first outbreak than the Christmas one.
We have moved the 3 negative residents out of Rose and swapped them over with 2 positive residents from Ivy and 1 from Oak so that the Rose residents can now have their doors open, come into the hallways and eat in the Rose dining room as they are all positive.
This means that all Ivy wing residents are negative and they can come out of their rooms for meals in the Ivy dining room or go out in the garden.
The negative residents in Wattle can do the same – leaving 4 positive residents in Wattle who remain in individual isolation. Two of those residents will be out of isolation on Monday and the last of the whole lot hopefully on Wednesday.
Don’t forget – everyone can have visitors!!!
Well, what a difference a few days makes. On Monday we had a small outbreak which started in Rose Wing but of course by the time we realized it was already being incubated elsewhere. On Wednesday we had a round of PCR tests done and were keen to get the results so we could decide whether it would be better to move all the positive residents into one wing or not.
Well apparently, there is no rush on processing tests any more so we didn’t get the first lot of results through for more than 24 hours. Before that we had done RATs on a few people and found more positives ourselves. This included some in Orchid so we decided to try reverse isolation and keep the negative residents in their rooms where possible. When I still didn’t have all the other results by 48 hours after they were collected, I contacted the Dept who checked their data base for me and told us what we already knew – that it was in Orchid and would no doubt eventually go right through due to the whole wing. They also confirmed the positive results in other wings that we had found for ourselves. I informed the Dept that 48 hours was too long and we would do rounds of RATS instead and they agreed.
So, where are we at?
We currently have 23 positive residents – most of whom are from Rose and Orchid so that area is now an isolation area from the doors into the Rose dining room through both wings.
All are on antivirals and have either very mild or no symptoms at all.
This is more like our first outbreak than the Christmas one.
We have moved the 3 negative residents out of Rose and swapped them over with 2 positive residents from Ivy and 1 from Oak so that the Rose residents can now have their doors open, come into the hallways and eat in the Rose dining room as they are all positive.
This means that all Ivy wing residents are negative and they can come out of their rooms for meals in the Ivy dining room or go out in the garden.
The negative residents in Wattle can do the same – leaving 4 positive residents in Wattle who remain in individual isolation. Two of those residents will be out of isolation on Monday and the last of the whole lot hopefully on Wednesday.
Don’t forget – everyone can have visitors!!!
Website Update 7/8/23
This morning we had two residents test positive for Covid so commenced our Outbreak Procedure by testing the rest of the residents who they share a table with and found another positive person. They all have very mild symptoms. After that all residents were informed and headed off to quarantine in their rooms. A bit later another resident reported a runny nose and was tested, coming up positive as well. So now we have 4.
All positive residents will start the antiviral meds today.
PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE CAN HAVE VISITORS - EVEN THE POSITIVE RESIDENTS – at your own risk obviously.
There have been another couple tested who are negative. Tomorrow the health dept will do a full round of PCR tests. Once we get those results, we may be able to just keep the positive ones in isolation. It will depend on how many – if any - residents turn up positive on that round as well as where their rooms are. This is a new option and reflects the move to managing Covid more like we would manage a flu outbreak.
Given that most residents had their 5th vaccine in May and all those who had Covid at Christmas only had their 5th one a couple of weeks ago we are not expecting much in the way of symptoms, unlike Christmas when it had been 8 months since anyone had a vaccine dose. It is interesting that none of the 4 have had Covid before. I have no idea whether that is just coincidence or epidemiologically significant.
As usual I will phone the families of the positive residents each day and use this update for general info on how the outbreak is going.
The big difference between this outbreak and the Christmas one is that it isn’t in the middle of a bunch of public holidays with everyone away – although both Barb and Jo seem to have managed to not be here on the first day again!
This morning we had two residents test positive for Covid so commenced our Outbreak Procedure by testing the rest of the residents who they share a table with and found another positive person. They all have very mild symptoms. After that all residents were informed and headed off to quarantine in their rooms. A bit later another resident reported a runny nose and was tested, coming up positive as well. So now we have 4.
All positive residents will start the antiviral meds today.
PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE CAN HAVE VISITORS - EVEN THE POSITIVE RESIDENTS – at your own risk obviously.
There have been another couple tested who are negative. Tomorrow the health dept will do a full round of PCR tests. Once we get those results, we may be able to just keep the positive ones in isolation. It will depend on how many – if any - residents turn up positive on that round as well as where their rooms are. This is a new option and reflects the move to managing Covid more like we would manage a flu outbreak.
Given that most residents had their 5th vaccine in May and all those who had Covid at Christmas only had their 5th one a couple of weeks ago we are not expecting much in the way of symptoms, unlike Christmas when it had been 8 months since anyone had a vaccine dose. It is interesting that none of the 4 have had Covid before. I have no idea whether that is just coincidence or epidemiologically significant.
As usual I will phone the families of the positive residents each day and use this update for general info on how the outbreak is going.
The big difference between this outbreak and the Christmas one is that it isn’t in the middle of a bunch of public holidays with everyone away – although both Barb and Jo seem to have managed to not be here on the first day again!
Website Update 16/6/23
You have probably been wondering why it has been a while, well, there has been a lot happening.
I had a couple of weeks off at the end of April and had been back all of 1 day when 3 people from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (used to be “the agency”) phoned from the carpark to say they were here for a 3 day re accreditation audit. Given our accreditation had 12 months still to go this seemed a little odd. I would have expected a spot audit rather than full reaccreditation. Not a lot of point extending our accreditation by 18 months only to come after 6. After some back and forth the end result was that there had probably been an error but since they had come from Melbourne they were instructed to go ahead. We could of course refuse them entry but as if! Jo and I were quite disappointed to find that we seemed to have time warped back to 2009 when all anyone was interested in was paperwork and trivia. Last time – in 2019 – the focus was heavily on what the residents thought and they did speak to a combination of 18 residents and relatives this time which was great. Unfortunately, they also presented us with 2 full pages of documents that they wanted to see, but the silliest part was some of the ‘feedback” we got. These always started with “just giving you some feedback” with a dead serious face so that you waited for the axe to fall. One was “there is a dead cricket on the floor near the door”, another – “a resident dropped their serviette and the staff member gave it back to them”, a third – “the person serving the meal didn’t introduce it to the resident”. At this point I had a mental image of a formal introduction - Mary – meet carrot, carrots -this is Mary - which made it hard to take it as seriously as the assessor obviously expected me to. By the way, the meal is listed on the menu which is on the table and if a resident doesn’t recognize what the food is they only have to ask.
There were some equally silly things but the one that gave us an “unmet” for a section of governance was the fact that there are a couple of residents who by virtue of being in Orchid and Oak and unable to operate the key pad are regarded by the assessors as being under restraint without informed consent from their relatives. This doesn’t have to be documented in any way, but our explanation that the beds were accepted by the families knowing that the doors were sometimes locked was not acceptable – as well as one resident having been there for 12 years so I am pretty sure her son has noticed the locked door by now. It took 3 weeks to get the report because they are no longer allowed to tell you how you have gone like they used to. Then we have 2 weeks to respond – which I have done – and eventually we will find out the result.
What was interesting is that the report on resident’s opinions of care and the staffing evidence was in direct contradiction of the star ratings for both those areas – which kind of proves that the way the information is collected for the star ratings makes them very questionable.
All our staff and residents had their Fluvax back in May and their 5th Covid as well. There are still some who had Covid at Christmas who have had to wait until the 1st July for their 5th dose.
Care reports – normally done in April but with all the extra reporting we have to do for the Dept I have had to put them off until July. There will still be 2 done this year with the second done in December. I also need to alter the format a bit to align with the new regulations.
We had a Covid exposure a few weeks ago which meant 6 ladies had to wear masks when out of their rooms and eat their meals in their rooms for a few days but no outbreak.
It turns out that our care staff, lifestyle staff and nurses will get the 15% pay rise after all- even though they are already 15% and more above the current Award. It is being paid as an increase in AN- ACC funding and the amount will hopefully allow us to pay all of the staff an extra 15% not just some of them. There is supposed to be a wage case for the rest of the staff at some point, which is fine. I am more than happy to have the feds take over paying it. We would like to add another 3 shifts so any help to pay the extra wages would be good. With staff getting around 30% above the current Award, we may be able to grab some people back from disability. Other than retiring and moving towns we have lost a couple to the higher wages – and lower work load – of disability houses.
The biggest issue is of course the 24/7 RN requirement from July 1st. On paper we have enough. In practice 4 of them would leave if we gave them the sort of roster that would actually cover it. We have another 2 RNs arriving in late June and late July. In the meantime, I may have to do some double shifts so that people can have days off.
We won’t be the only place struggling – we are apparently 5,900 registered nurses short across the industry and 16 facilities have closed since Sept last year - a loss of 400 beds. Not sure how that is an improvement in care. Having 3 doctor consultation sessions a week so that acute problems are dealt with in a timely fashion as well as regular review of chronic diseases is probably of greater benefit than 24/7 RNs especially if they flood the industry with grads. A number of facilities are replacing personal carers with RNs, then expecting the RNs to work as carers – just to make the roster look good.
During the last publication of the star ratings we dropped to 4 stars for the clinical indicators due to treating too many medical conditions for our residents. If they have more than 9 meds we have to report it and apparently too many of our residents do. I believe this is because we send people to the GP as soon as we notice something. Most places don’t have 3 GP clinics a week, some have none and everything is either done by email or the resident’s family have to take them to a medical centre. So, if a resident is on 8 meds (for example 1 for heart, 1 for blood pressure, 1 diuretic, 2 eye drops for glaucoma, a couple of pain killers and a preventative injection 6 monthly for osteoporosis- which is a pretty conservative collection) and then we notice a haemorrhoid on a Thursday – put them on the docs list on Friday and they prescribe a cream – bang – we are at 9 meds and on the govt report. So my question would be – what would you like us not to treat? Their arthritis pain so they can’t move? Their heart failure so they can’t breathe? Their glaucoma so they can’t see?Their blood pressure so they have a stroke? Or the osteoporosis so they break their hip. Maybe just let the haemorrhoid hang out and bleed? Ridiculous.
Then we have the elephant in the room – the absolute debacle that occurred in the Cooma nursing home that resulted in a 95 year old’s death. When that came on the news on the Thurs night, the first thing I said was that I would sack the staff for being too stupid to be employed. A number of our staff said they were channeling me in their loungerooms saying that I would have told everyone to be quiet and go away (censored version). It would never have got to that point. It isn’t my business to comment on Police procedure but why anyone in their right mind would call the Police because an old lady was carrying cutlery around at 4am is beyond me. I would probably only notice if they were balancing a surface to air missile launcher on the front of her walker. I hope it was an RN – at least that would blow the government’s theory that the solution to all life’s problems is more RNs, out of the water.
If I called the cops every time someone wandered off with a bit of cutlery it would never stop. The solution to people with dementia doing something inappropriate is either to leave them alone and wait until they forget or if there is a risk to other residents, you remove the other residents from the area and wait until they forget. Nagging doesn’t work, neither does drugs and certainly not a taser. It will of course result in more regulation. Now instead of all facilities constantly having to prove we aren’t Oakden we will all have to also prove that we aren’t Yallambee Lodge.
Years ago, we had a resident in Orchid who often turned all the tables upside down, sometimes tried to rip the TV or heaters off the wall or kicked the plate glass door. On those evenings we took the other residents into the Rose lounge until he settled down and went off to bed. It never occurred to me to ring the Police.
One of the new clinical indicators is we have to do 2 separate surveys of the residents every 3 months. This is in addition to asking them the same questions at meetings every 2 months, getting an external person in to do a similar survey once a year, being asked the same questions by the agency in May AND having the govt send a couple of people to do a slightly different survey annually. We received word today that the govt interviewers will be here on the 16th August. This was the survey where the residents had trouble understanding the questions and were only given very limited choices for answers with no ability to explain what they meant which led to very inaccurate results compared to all the other information from residents, especially when they asked residents with advanced dementia. I complained to the Dept at the time but it made no difference. The residents are a bit better prepared this time but must be getting heartily sick of being surveyed. I have noticed that they are repeating old stories at the meetings.
You have probably been wondering why it has been a while, well, there has been a lot happening.
I had a couple of weeks off at the end of April and had been back all of 1 day when 3 people from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (used to be “the agency”) phoned from the carpark to say they were here for a 3 day re accreditation audit. Given our accreditation had 12 months still to go this seemed a little odd. I would have expected a spot audit rather than full reaccreditation. Not a lot of point extending our accreditation by 18 months only to come after 6. After some back and forth the end result was that there had probably been an error but since they had come from Melbourne they were instructed to go ahead. We could of course refuse them entry but as if! Jo and I were quite disappointed to find that we seemed to have time warped back to 2009 when all anyone was interested in was paperwork and trivia. Last time – in 2019 – the focus was heavily on what the residents thought and they did speak to a combination of 18 residents and relatives this time which was great. Unfortunately, they also presented us with 2 full pages of documents that they wanted to see, but the silliest part was some of the ‘feedback” we got. These always started with “just giving you some feedback” with a dead serious face so that you waited for the axe to fall. One was “there is a dead cricket on the floor near the door”, another – “a resident dropped their serviette and the staff member gave it back to them”, a third – “the person serving the meal didn’t introduce it to the resident”. At this point I had a mental image of a formal introduction - Mary – meet carrot, carrots -this is Mary - which made it hard to take it as seriously as the assessor obviously expected me to. By the way, the meal is listed on the menu which is on the table and if a resident doesn’t recognize what the food is they only have to ask.
There were some equally silly things but the one that gave us an “unmet” for a section of governance was the fact that there are a couple of residents who by virtue of being in Orchid and Oak and unable to operate the key pad are regarded by the assessors as being under restraint without informed consent from their relatives. This doesn’t have to be documented in any way, but our explanation that the beds were accepted by the families knowing that the doors were sometimes locked was not acceptable – as well as one resident having been there for 12 years so I am pretty sure her son has noticed the locked door by now. It took 3 weeks to get the report because they are no longer allowed to tell you how you have gone like they used to. Then we have 2 weeks to respond – which I have done – and eventually we will find out the result.
What was interesting is that the report on resident’s opinions of care and the staffing evidence was in direct contradiction of the star ratings for both those areas – which kind of proves that the way the information is collected for the star ratings makes them very questionable.
All our staff and residents had their Fluvax back in May and their 5th Covid as well. There are still some who had Covid at Christmas who have had to wait until the 1st July for their 5th dose.
Care reports – normally done in April but with all the extra reporting we have to do for the Dept I have had to put them off until July. There will still be 2 done this year with the second done in December. I also need to alter the format a bit to align with the new regulations.
We had a Covid exposure a few weeks ago which meant 6 ladies had to wear masks when out of their rooms and eat their meals in their rooms for a few days but no outbreak.
It turns out that our care staff, lifestyle staff and nurses will get the 15% pay rise after all- even though they are already 15% and more above the current Award. It is being paid as an increase in AN- ACC funding and the amount will hopefully allow us to pay all of the staff an extra 15% not just some of them. There is supposed to be a wage case for the rest of the staff at some point, which is fine. I am more than happy to have the feds take over paying it. We would like to add another 3 shifts so any help to pay the extra wages would be good. With staff getting around 30% above the current Award, we may be able to grab some people back from disability. Other than retiring and moving towns we have lost a couple to the higher wages – and lower work load – of disability houses.
The biggest issue is of course the 24/7 RN requirement from July 1st. On paper we have enough. In practice 4 of them would leave if we gave them the sort of roster that would actually cover it. We have another 2 RNs arriving in late June and late July. In the meantime, I may have to do some double shifts so that people can have days off.
We won’t be the only place struggling – we are apparently 5,900 registered nurses short across the industry and 16 facilities have closed since Sept last year - a loss of 400 beds. Not sure how that is an improvement in care. Having 3 doctor consultation sessions a week so that acute problems are dealt with in a timely fashion as well as regular review of chronic diseases is probably of greater benefit than 24/7 RNs especially if they flood the industry with grads. A number of facilities are replacing personal carers with RNs, then expecting the RNs to work as carers – just to make the roster look good.
During the last publication of the star ratings we dropped to 4 stars for the clinical indicators due to treating too many medical conditions for our residents. If they have more than 9 meds we have to report it and apparently too many of our residents do. I believe this is because we send people to the GP as soon as we notice something. Most places don’t have 3 GP clinics a week, some have none and everything is either done by email or the resident’s family have to take them to a medical centre. So, if a resident is on 8 meds (for example 1 for heart, 1 for blood pressure, 1 diuretic, 2 eye drops for glaucoma, a couple of pain killers and a preventative injection 6 monthly for osteoporosis- which is a pretty conservative collection) and then we notice a haemorrhoid on a Thursday – put them on the docs list on Friday and they prescribe a cream – bang – we are at 9 meds and on the govt report. So my question would be – what would you like us not to treat? Their arthritis pain so they can’t move? Their heart failure so they can’t breathe? Their glaucoma so they can’t see?Their blood pressure so they have a stroke? Or the osteoporosis so they break their hip. Maybe just let the haemorrhoid hang out and bleed? Ridiculous.
Then we have the elephant in the room – the absolute debacle that occurred in the Cooma nursing home that resulted in a 95 year old’s death. When that came on the news on the Thurs night, the first thing I said was that I would sack the staff for being too stupid to be employed. A number of our staff said they were channeling me in their loungerooms saying that I would have told everyone to be quiet and go away (censored version). It would never have got to that point. It isn’t my business to comment on Police procedure but why anyone in their right mind would call the Police because an old lady was carrying cutlery around at 4am is beyond me. I would probably only notice if they were balancing a surface to air missile launcher on the front of her walker. I hope it was an RN – at least that would blow the government’s theory that the solution to all life’s problems is more RNs, out of the water.
If I called the cops every time someone wandered off with a bit of cutlery it would never stop. The solution to people with dementia doing something inappropriate is either to leave them alone and wait until they forget or if there is a risk to other residents, you remove the other residents from the area and wait until they forget. Nagging doesn’t work, neither does drugs and certainly not a taser. It will of course result in more regulation. Now instead of all facilities constantly having to prove we aren’t Oakden we will all have to also prove that we aren’t Yallambee Lodge.
Years ago, we had a resident in Orchid who often turned all the tables upside down, sometimes tried to rip the TV or heaters off the wall or kicked the plate glass door. On those evenings we took the other residents into the Rose lounge until he settled down and went off to bed. It never occurred to me to ring the Police.
One of the new clinical indicators is we have to do 2 separate surveys of the residents every 3 months. This is in addition to asking them the same questions at meetings every 2 months, getting an external person in to do a similar survey once a year, being asked the same questions by the agency in May AND having the govt send a couple of people to do a slightly different survey annually. We received word today that the govt interviewers will be here on the 16th August. This was the survey where the residents had trouble understanding the questions and were only given very limited choices for answers with no ability to explain what they meant which led to very inaccurate results compared to all the other information from residents, especially when they asked residents with advanced dementia. I complained to the Dept at the time but it made no difference. The residents are a bit better prepared this time but must be getting heartily sick of being surveyed. I have noticed that they are repeating old stories at the meetings.
Website Update April 14th 2023
Welcome to the update. There are a lot of things happening at the Village at present.
Firstly, the next Covid booster vaccination is booked for April 20th.This will be provided by the hospital at no cost as the government is no longer providing a free service.
Not all residents will be able to have a booster on that day. Those who had Covid for Christmas will need to wait until the 1st of July (six months post infection).
Unfortunately, the Medical Centre is unable to do the influenza vaccinations on the same day this year so they are booked separately for May 10th.This is probably better as it was very difficult to co -ordinate the 2 separate groups of providers last year. It was a bit like herding cats
Our building is progressing. There are still some delays with stage 1. Renovating a 60 year old building and attaching it to a new one is quite complicated so stage 2- the new areas - are moving faster than stage 1 has. The silver lining is that the time between the 2 stages being completed has become shorter so we won’t have to share spaces for as long as we would have.
We have dragged our rostering system into the 21st century. While some areas such as administration and maintenance have always had 8 hour days and full time, the care areas – with a couple of exceptions – have had a Heinz variety of shift lengths and contracted hours. When the staff numbered about 25, it was easy enough to manage the varying shift lengths but not with 85 staff.
So, we increased all care shifts to 8 hours, offered everyone full time, lifted contracts to the closest multiple of 8 and looked into a 10 hour night shift. This last change was for a number of reasons. Firstly, to bring us in line with most other aged care facilities – including all the other local ones – but also to more evenly distribute the work load across the full day and give residents more choice of when they would like to shower. It also means a period of time in the afternoon when there are double staff. We will use this for paperwork, staff education, the ‘extras” that are difficult to get done in the mornings and we will try to make appointments that staff need to take residents to during that time as well. The 8 hour shifts started a couple of weeks ago and the 10 hour night shifts start on April 24th. I will talk to the residents next week about that as well as the Covid booster.
All up, the changes will increase care hours by about 8 a day and enable night staff to work the same hours but less days – which also makes doing the rosters easier. One regular night shift worker came up with an extra advantage we hadn’t thought of. By finishing work at 8am instead of 7.15, she will never have to drive home in the dark (she lives a good way out of town on a roo infested road).
We are slowly plodding our way towards meeting the 24/7 RN requirement from July. On paper we have enough RN shifts, but when 5 out of 6 are full time, covering 3 shifts a day plus meeting the rules of civilized rostering was impossible. We all had a go at it but realized that we would probably lose our RNs if we forced them to have 1 night off after a run of night shifts then come back for a bunch of shifts without days off in order to give them their 80 hours a fortnight. Plus, they would hardly ever get a weekend off. We are short 3 RN night shifts each weekend at present but are continuing to advertise. We will not be the only ones struggling. It is quite unreasonable. Some facilities have already closed because they not only cannot find the RNs but cannot afford them. Others are closing some beds to bring themselves down to the exemption limit of 30 beds. I am fairly sure that less aged care beds comes under the heading of unintended consequences. An example of sad cases making poor laws. Also, some facilities are replacing carers with RNs. That may seem like a good idea but the purpose of aged care RNs is to manage chronic diseases and deal with acute clinical situations. If they are taking the place of a carer by showering, dressing and feeding residents they will not be able to do the actual clinical work as well, which completely defeats the purpose. Also, RNs won’t stay in aged care if they are being used as personal carers in order to meet the new regulations.
The extra 6 clinical indicators start this month – bringing the reporting every 3 months to 11 different items. This will include 2 surveys that residents must complete. Only those who are cognitively normal can refuse to do it. We had to update our cognition assessments to determine who could refuse. The regulations say that while staff can assist most of the residents to complete the surveys, a proxy such as a family member must do it for residents who are non verbal. We will contact those of you to whom that may apply. I cannot seem to find any information on whether a proxy can refuse.
These 2 surveys are similar to the one that was done by the Dept in September last year with 20% of residents. We use similar question at our Wing meetings with the big difference being that I follow up each answer that looks like it may be of concern and the residents can explain their answers, not just give one of 4 options – always, most of the time, sometimes or never – as the Dept surveyors gave them. The interesting thing from the last round of Wing meetings was the difference between what was recorded in the minutes compared to the information from the follow up. I would love to send the report to the Dept. An example. When the residents at the meeting were asked if they would recommend this facility one said “no’. I went to see that person and asked why not. The answer – ‘Because I would rather be at home”. When the question was reworded as ‘OK, but if you have to be in care at all, would you recommend here” – the answer was a resounding “yes”. If I had been the Dept assessor the first answer would have been recorded as ‘would not recommend”. There were a multitude of misunderstood or different interpretations on what the questions actually were trying to get at. Obviously, not every answer is a misinterpretation. We get useful feedback and good suggestions as well from these meetings. At least we can get to real issues and fix them- such as the staff locking the sunroom doors too early of an evening, preventing residents going out for a bit of a walk in the fresh air after tea – resolved by a notice to evening staff.
Our Wing meetings are now classified as ‘Consumer Quality Advisory Committee “ meetings in order to comply with yet another new regulation. All residents are automatically members on admission- even if they don’t wish to attend- and I am required to invite all representatives every year as well. Consider yourselves invited. You are all very welcome to attend these meetings. We will text you with the day and time on the next round.
I see on the news yesterday that another 200 beds have closed in NSW due to the staffing regulations – not good.
Website Update 10/2/23
Welcome to the update.
Let’s talk about star ratings. In December the Dept released the initial ratings. We were given an overall rating of 4, with 5 stars in 3 of the categories including staffing. While this was nice, I thought the minutes that were published were a bit odd – being in the thousands per resident per day. Our assumption was that the 5-star rating was correct but that the figures were a typo. Obviously the Dept looked at the numbers themselves because by early Jan My Aged Care had altered the published ratings and figures, dropping our staffing from 5 stars to 1 and the overall to 3. As you can imagine, we were not happy and I asked the Dept for an explanation of both the original 5 and the new 1. Eventually the reply was it is based on what we report and we subsequently realized we had under reported. We took the instructions a bit too literally and didn’t take into account what staff actually do – regardless of what their job title is and what appears on payroll. For example, I am classified as the CEO and the Director of Care – both admin positions and therefore not countable – but I am always a RN as well as being on call clinically 24/7. A lot of my CEO work gets done after hours. I don’t get paid overtime, penalties or paid for working weekends or public holidays. On paper I do 80 hours a fortnight regardless and just take time in lieu – which doesn’t appear on the pay records. During the Christmas covid, my actual hours as a RN totaled 208 for the fortnight plus, I looked after Oak Wing one day so you could add another 5 hours of direct care to that.
Another example is our care roster manager – not countable - but she is a personal carer so if someone rings in sick and she cannot persuade someone else to come in – as happened yesterday – she does the shift herself. On payroll that doesn’t appear nor does unpaid overtime. Sometimes if the night staff know that someone has rung in sick for the morning shift they stay on and help out in the morning peak hour. We will try to include all those things in the reports because regardless of what payroll says about, the care gets done. The next care minutes ratings for the December quarter will be published in March – by which time they will be 3 months out of date – which is another issue we have with them.
We are also considering changing the night shift hours to cover some of the peak hour in the morning as 95% of residents want to get up at the same time in the morning which would require about 30 staff to be here. Not possible, but having an extra 3 people until 8.30am would certainly help. I am fairly sure that a lot of residents judge the quality of the care across the board by how long they have to wait in the mornings so we will see if we can modify that.
Our rosters are based on ratios – 1 carer (not counting medication staff or RNs) to every 6 residents. This is because we believe that staffing should be based on residents getting equal attention and care regardless of what their funding category says. In other words, staff should be able to spend as much time helping the resident who is classified by the Dept as a 2 because they don’t need a walking frame but who need a lot of redirection, prompting and reassurance as they do caring for the resident who is in the flow chair. Also, the carers have no other role. They do not have to interrupt care to serve meals, or do laundry as they do in some facilities. Unfortunately, care minutes are calculated by the Dept based on an algorithm attached to the classifications. Some consultants are now telling facilities to manage their classifications in order to keep their care minutes targets low so that they “match” their preferred roster model and help them get a higher staffing star rating. I didn’t think it would take long for someone to start fiddling the figures and the Dept won’t bother about that because lower classifications means less subsidies they have to pay the facilities.
I know there are facilities who have a household model of care - which is great from a building model perspective. There may be 8 residents say in each ‘house” which is much nicer than a huge open plan setup. But, and there is a but, the carer for that house is often responsible for cooking all the meals, doing all the cleaning and laundry and even the shopping for food. That means the care gets tucked into the empty spaces between the other jobs but I bet their time are all counted as personal carer on the payroll.
There are 5 new clinical indicators from April including having to survey the residents every 3 months for ‘consumer experience and quality of life”. We thought that would mean they would not be sending external interviewers this year but they are. Sometime between now and September they will be back to talk to 20% of the residents. While we had issues with the way all the questions were asked, I see they have got rid of the one about being home like. Apparently everyone took that as ‘is it like being at home” and said no. They have replaced it with “ how likely are you to recommend this home?” Shame they didn’t change some of the others – or at least allow the interviewer to provide clarification or ask what the resident means by a ‘sometimes’ or “never” answer..
Moving on to covid, there will be a 5th vaccination released soon. We will try and organize that to happen with this year’s Fluvax as we did last year so probably March or April. The residents who had covid at Christmas will not be able to have it until July. We will let you know.
We have managed to secure another 2 registered nurses. We will definitely need them when the new 15 beds open but they started this week so we didn’t lose them to somewhere else. They have just finished their graduate year so are baby nurses but they spent it in an aged care facility so we can build on that. One of them felt the need to mention on her first day that she was 5 years old the year I started at the Village. It was almost a very short term of employment.
Welcome to the update.
Let’s talk about star ratings. In December the Dept released the initial ratings. We were given an overall rating of 4, with 5 stars in 3 of the categories including staffing. While this was nice, I thought the minutes that were published were a bit odd – being in the thousands per resident per day. Our assumption was that the 5-star rating was correct but that the figures were a typo. Obviously the Dept looked at the numbers themselves because by early Jan My Aged Care had altered the published ratings and figures, dropping our staffing from 5 stars to 1 and the overall to 3. As you can imagine, we were not happy and I asked the Dept for an explanation of both the original 5 and the new 1. Eventually the reply was it is based on what we report and we subsequently realized we had under reported. We took the instructions a bit too literally and didn’t take into account what staff actually do – regardless of what their job title is and what appears on payroll. For example, I am classified as the CEO and the Director of Care – both admin positions and therefore not countable – but I am always a RN as well as being on call clinically 24/7. A lot of my CEO work gets done after hours. I don’t get paid overtime, penalties or paid for working weekends or public holidays. On paper I do 80 hours a fortnight regardless and just take time in lieu – which doesn’t appear on the pay records. During the Christmas covid, my actual hours as a RN totaled 208 for the fortnight plus, I looked after Oak Wing one day so you could add another 5 hours of direct care to that.
Another example is our care roster manager – not countable - but she is a personal carer so if someone rings in sick and she cannot persuade someone else to come in – as happened yesterday – she does the shift herself. On payroll that doesn’t appear nor does unpaid overtime. Sometimes if the night staff know that someone has rung in sick for the morning shift they stay on and help out in the morning peak hour. We will try to include all those things in the reports because regardless of what payroll says about, the care gets done. The next care minutes ratings for the December quarter will be published in March – by which time they will be 3 months out of date – which is another issue we have with them.
We are also considering changing the night shift hours to cover some of the peak hour in the morning as 95% of residents want to get up at the same time in the morning which would require about 30 staff to be here. Not possible, but having an extra 3 people until 8.30am would certainly help. I am fairly sure that a lot of residents judge the quality of the care across the board by how long they have to wait in the mornings so we will see if we can modify that.
Our rosters are based on ratios – 1 carer (not counting medication staff or RNs) to every 6 residents. This is because we believe that staffing should be based on residents getting equal attention and care regardless of what their funding category says. In other words, staff should be able to spend as much time helping the resident who is classified by the Dept as a 2 because they don’t need a walking frame but who need a lot of redirection, prompting and reassurance as they do caring for the resident who is in the flow chair. Also, the carers have no other role. They do not have to interrupt care to serve meals, or do laundry as they do in some facilities. Unfortunately, care minutes are calculated by the Dept based on an algorithm attached to the classifications. Some consultants are now telling facilities to manage their classifications in order to keep their care minutes targets low so that they “match” their preferred roster model and help them get a higher staffing star rating. I didn’t think it would take long for someone to start fiddling the figures and the Dept won’t bother about that because lower classifications means less subsidies they have to pay the facilities.
I know there are facilities who have a household model of care - which is great from a building model perspective. There may be 8 residents say in each ‘house” which is much nicer than a huge open plan setup. But, and there is a but, the carer for that house is often responsible for cooking all the meals, doing all the cleaning and laundry and even the shopping for food. That means the care gets tucked into the empty spaces between the other jobs but I bet their time are all counted as personal carer on the payroll.
There are 5 new clinical indicators from April including having to survey the residents every 3 months for ‘consumer experience and quality of life”. We thought that would mean they would not be sending external interviewers this year but they are. Sometime between now and September they will be back to talk to 20% of the residents. While we had issues with the way all the questions were asked, I see they have got rid of the one about being home like. Apparently everyone took that as ‘is it like being at home” and said no. They have replaced it with “ how likely are you to recommend this home?” Shame they didn’t change some of the others – or at least allow the interviewer to provide clarification or ask what the resident means by a ‘sometimes’ or “never” answer..
Moving on to covid, there will be a 5th vaccination released soon. We will try and organize that to happen with this year’s Fluvax as we did last year so probably March or April. The residents who had covid at Christmas will not be able to have it until July. We will let you know.
We have managed to secure another 2 registered nurses. We will definitely need them when the new 15 beds open but they started this week so we didn’t lose them to somewhere else. They have just finished their graduate year so are baby nurses but they spent it in an aged care facility so we can build on that. One of them felt the need to mention on her first day that she was 5 years old the year I started at the Village. It was almost a very short term of employment.
6/1/23
Just a quick note – all residents who were tested yesterday remain negative.
They will have one last test on Sunday and all being well the outbreak will be declared over on Monday when the last positive person comes out of isolation.
I am having the weekend off. If my husband has let any plants die in the garden in the 12 days I have been away, we will have a Covid related death.
Just a quick note – all residents who were tested yesterday remain negative.
They will have one last test on Sunday and all being well the outbreak will be declared over on Monday when the last positive person comes out of isolation.
I am having the weekend off. If my husband has let any plants die in the garden in the 12 days I have been away, we will have a Covid related death.
Sorry everyone, I thought I posted this update on the 3rd -it seems I didn’t so this is a combined one
Website Update 3rd Jan/5th Jan 2023
‘Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” I know how that character felt. Two days short of the end of our outbreak we had a straggler test positive – there is always one! So, while all the other Covid positive residents will be out of isolation on Thursday we will still officially have an outbreak until next Tuesday at least.
Everyone else who was retested Monday was negative so that means Orchid, Oak and Rose wings remained virus free. There will be another round of PCR tests this Thursday and yet another round on Sunday. If all remain negative this will be over on Tuesday the 10th.
Currently, Orchid, Rose and Oak are eating in their dining rooms but not able to venture further into other areas.
Residents in Wattle and Ivy who have remained negative are able to eat in the Wattle dining room together but not mix with residents who were positive.
Those residents are able to eat and sit in the Ivy dining area and lounge as they are released from isolation but are not able to mix with the always negative residents until next Monday.
Clear?
We now only have 5 remaining in isolation so life is easier and we are generating a lot less rubbish.
Due to the straggler, we have put 3 people back into quarantine as they ate at the same table yesterday. They were negative yesterday and will hopefully remain so.
The staff have been fantastic and not having a lot of them get it made an enormous difference.
The 5 that did are all back at work and it is quite handy having staff you know are not at risk.
Thursday 5th Extra
We have used our cleaning ‘bombs” on the public areas now so they are ready for residents to start mingling again when allowed.
I will be talking to the Dept – yet again - about having negative residents restricted for longer than those who had Covid. I know we want to prevent it spreading but there may come a time when we simply isolate those with Covid as we would with flu rather than everyone.
The other issue which we will be looking at for the future is which antiviral to use. Many of our residents are not able to have Paxlovid due to reduced renal function and medications but some could. There are also intravenous antivirals available which may be an option.
Only 1 resident remains in isolation today – hopefully NOT joined by anyone else after the PCR round.
Website Update 3rd Jan/5th Jan 2023
‘Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” I know how that character felt. Two days short of the end of our outbreak we had a straggler test positive – there is always one! So, while all the other Covid positive residents will be out of isolation on Thursday we will still officially have an outbreak until next Tuesday at least.
Everyone else who was retested Monday was negative so that means Orchid, Oak and Rose wings remained virus free. There will be another round of PCR tests this Thursday and yet another round on Sunday. If all remain negative this will be over on Tuesday the 10th.
Currently, Orchid, Rose and Oak are eating in their dining rooms but not able to venture further into other areas.
Residents in Wattle and Ivy who have remained negative are able to eat in the Wattle dining room together but not mix with residents who were positive.
Those residents are able to eat and sit in the Ivy dining area and lounge as they are released from isolation but are not able to mix with the always negative residents until next Monday.
Clear?
We now only have 5 remaining in isolation so life is easier and we are generating a lot less rubbish.
Due to the straggler, we have put 3 people back into quarantine as they ate at the same table yesterday. They were negative yesterday and will hopefully remain so.
The staff have been fantastic and not having a lot of them get it made an enormous difference.
The 5 that did are all back at work and it is quite handy having staff you know are not at risk.
Thursday 5th Extra
We have used our cleaning ‘bombs” on the public areas now so they are ready for residents to start mingling again when allowed.
I will be talking to the Dept – yet again - about having negative residents restricted for longer than those who had Covid. I know we want to prevent it spreading but there may come a time when we simply isolate those with Covid as we would with flu rather than everyone.
The other issue which we will be looking at for the future is which antiviral to use. Many of our residents are not able to have Paxlovid due to reduced renal function and medications but some could. There are also intravenous antivirals available which may be an option.
Only 1 resident remains in isolation today – hopefully NOT joined by anyone else after the PCR round.
Website Update Saturday 31st December 2022
Well, we are on day 6 of our Christmas day covid outbreak. And the last day of 2022. Good riddance! Thanks to all the public holidays, a round of PCR tests which would normally have happened last Tuesday did not happen until Thursday.
This meant that the last 4 people from the Ivy dining tables with infected people were not picked up until then. We had done RATs – which were negative. We know they had their last contact with an infected person on Sunday and if we had a positive PCR on Tuesday their isolation would be over next Tuesday the same as everyone else.
I put the case to the Dept – that a delay because of public holidays should not result in people having to stay in isolation for more days than necessary but couldn’t convince them.
The moral of the story apparently is never, ever start an outbreak on Christmas Day.
So, our total resident number was 18 – all in Wattle and Ivy and involving 5 out of the 6 dining tables. Two tables are fully infected, 2 tables have 1 negative person and one has only 1 positive out of 5. Covid transmission is weirdly random.
The difference this time is in the number of staff infected – 5 compared to 20 last time thanks to permanent N95 masks. All 5 on the same days as the residents with none since we implemented our outbreak plan. This has made life a lot easier considering a number of staff were already off due to the Christmas break.
The other difference is symptoms. With the exception of a couple of the last 4, every resident has had obvious symptoms which made it easier to identify them. Last time, if we hadn’t done PCRs we would not of known about most of them. All have had antivirals – as has one staff member who says it made a big difference to how long she was sick for.
So, what next. All of Orchid, Oak and Rose had negative PCRs on Thursday so are able to come out into their lounge areas today just not into the rest of the building until we can do a big clean, but that is heaps better than being confined to a room.
On Sunday 1st the first 8 positive resident will be officially out of isolation but we need to set of some antiviral bombs first so probably not in time for breakfast – maybe lunch or tea time.
Then 2 more will be out on Monday, 4 more on Tuesday and the last 4 on Thursday.
There is supposed to be another round of PCRs by the Dept on Tuesday which will hopefully release the negative people in Wattle/Ivy.
Thanks to the delay, the outbreak won’t be able to be declared over until Thursday which is a shame.
Well, we are on day 6 of our Christmas day covid outbreak. And the last day of 2022. Good riddance! Thanks to all the public holidays, a round of PCR tests which would normally have happened last Tuesday did not happen until Thursday.
This meant that the last 4 people from the Ivy dining tables with infected people were not picked up until then. We had done RATs – which were negative. We know they had their last contact with an infected person on Sunday and if we had a positive PCR on Tuesday their isolation would be over next Tuesday the same as everyone else.
I put the case to the Dept – that a delay because of public holidays should not result in people having to stay in isolation for more days than necessary but couldn’t convince them.
The moral of the story apparently is never, ever start an outbreak on Christmas Day.
So, our total resident number was 18 – all in Wattle and Ivy and involving 5 out of the 6 dining tables. Two tables are fully infected, 2 tables have 1 negative person and one has only 1 positive out of 5. Covid transmission is weirdly random.
The difference this time is in the number of staff infected – 5 compared to 20 last time thanks to permanent N95 masks. All 5 on the same days as the residents with none since we implemented our outbreak plan. This has made life a lot easier considering a number of staff were already off due to the Christmas break.
The other difference is symptoms. With the exception of a couple of the last 4, every resident has had obvious symptoms which made it easier to identify them. Last time, if we hadn’t done PCRs we would not of known about most of them. All have had antivirals – as has one staff member who says it made a big difference to how long she was sick for.
So, what next. All of Orchid, Oak and Rose had negative PCRs on Thursday so are able to come out into their lounge areas today just not into the rest of the building until we can do a big clean, but that is heaps better than being confined to a room.
On Sunday 1st the first 8 positive resident will be officially out of isolation but we need to set of some antiviral bombs first so probably not in time for breakfast – maybe lunch or tea time.
Then 2 more will be out on Monday, 4 more on Tuesday and the last 4 on Thursday.
There is supposed to be another round of PCRs by the Dept on Tuesday which will hopefully release the negative people in Wattle/Ivy.
Thanks to the delay, the outbreak won’t be able to be declared over until Thursday which is a shame.
28/12/22
The 7 residents who tested positive for Covid on Christmas day either sit in the Wattle – Ivy dining rooms or together in the Ivy lounge so it was not a big surprise when on Monday and Tues there were more people with it. Our total at present is 14 residents and 4 staff.
No residents tested positive on Wednesday.
On Thursday Melbourne Pathology will do PCR tests on all the negative residents to make sure there are no more people who may have it but not have symptoms.
Potentially there are still some from the Ivy and Wattle dining tables who may have but with each passing day that becomes less likely.
In Orchid, Oak and Rose we are clear so far but a lot of people went out Christmas day and could have caught it in the community. If they have, at least they cannot give it to other residents.
The Dept has said that if those wings are clear on tomorrow’s PCR round they may be able to come out of quarantine.
I have another meeting with the Dept on Friday and will find out then.
The negative residents in Wattle and Ivy will have to remain a bit longer.
ALL RESIDENTS CAN HAVE VISITORS – INCLUDING COVID POSITIVE RESIDENTS.
If you are visiting a negative resident you still need to RAT and mask up of course.
If you visit a Covid positive resident - for your own sake you should wear the full gear and you visit at your own risk.
We are not the only facility experiencing a post Christmas Covid boom – we just started a bit earlier than most.
The 7 residents who tested positive for Covid on Christmas day either sit in the Wattle – Ivy dining rooms or together in the Ivy lounge so it was not a big surprise when on Monday and Tues there were more people with it. Our total at present is 14 residents and 4 staff.
No residents tested positive on Wednesday.
On Thursday Melbourne Pathology will do PCR tests on all the negative residents to make sure there are no more people who may have it but not have symptoms.
Potentially there are still some from the Ivy and Wattle dining tables who may have but with each passing day that becomes less likely.
In Orchid, Oak and Rose we are clear so far but a lot of people went out Christmas day and could have caught it in the community. If they have, at least they cannot give it to other residents.
The Dept has said that if those wings are clear on tomorrow’s PCR round they may be able to come out of quarantine.
I have another meeting with the Dept on Friday and will find out then.
The negative residents in Wattle and Ivy will have to remain a bit longer.
ALL RESIDENTS CAN HAVE VISITORS – INCLUDING COVID POSITIVE RESIDENTS.
If you are visiting a negative resident you still need to RAT and mask up of course.
If you visit a Covid positive resident - for your own sake you should wear the full gear and you visit at your own risk.
We are not the only facility experiencing a post Christmas Covid boom – we just started a bit earlier than most.
Sunday 25th December 2022
As of 11am this morning 25th December after a full round of RATs we had 7 residents test positive. A staff member tested positive on Saturday but that is not related to the residents. We did the tests after a resident who had previously tested negative yesterday tested positive early this morning. All the positive residents either eat in the Wattle dining room or sit together in the Ivy lounge area. All but the 1st to test positive are from Wattle Wing. We are closely monitoring the other Wattle dining room residents.
I expected to get an outbreak after all the Christmas socializing- I had hoped to get past Christmas Day first though.
As it is now at least 8 months since the residents had their 4th vaccination, I expect that some may be more unwell than during our 1st outbreak as it was only a fortnight after the vaccination.
We will be starting antivirals tonight for those with the most symptoms – it is no longer considered necessary to give them to everyone who tests positive.
All residents had a RAT this morning and other than the 7 they were all negative.
Obviously, all the positive residents are in full isolation.
All others are in quarantine – initially for 3 days and after that we will see. Hopefully anyone else who is brewing it will have declared themselves before then.
Everyone – including the positive residents - can have visitors at your own risk.
As with last time, I will contact the families of the covid positive residents at least once a day – for everyone else this website is your best source of information. It would be great if we could limit incoming phone calls especially over the public holidays when we don’t have reception staff.
Tomorrow I will try and organize a full round of PCR testing – RATs are a bit slow.
.
As of 11am this morning 25th December after a full round of RATs we had 7 residents test positive. A staff member tested positive on Saturday but that is not related to the residents. We did the tests after a resident who had previously tested negative yesterday tested positive early this morning. All the positive residents either eat in the Wattle dining room or sit together in the Ivy lounge area. All but the 1st to test positive are from Wattle Wing. We are closely monitoring the other Wattle dining room residents.
I expected to get an outbreak after all the Christmas socializing- I had hoped to get past Christmas Day first though.
As it is now at least 8 months since the residents had their 4th vaccination, I expect that some may be more unwell than during our 1st outbreak as it was only a fortnight after the vaccination.
We will be starting antivirals tonight for those with the most symptoms – it is no longer considered necessary to give them to everyone who tests positive.
All residents had a RAT this morning and other than the 7 they were all negative.
Obviously, all the positive residents are in full isolation.
All others are in quarantine – initially for 3 days and after that we will see. Hopefully anyone else who is brewing it will have declared themselves before then.
Everyone – including the positive residents - can have visitors at your own risk.
As with last time, I will contact the families of the covid positive residents at least once a day – for everyone else this website is your best source of information. It would be great if we could limit incoming phone calls especially over the public holidays when we don’t have reception staff.
Tomorrow I will try and organize a full round of PCR testing – RATs are a bit slow.
.
Website Update 20/12/22
Christmas Day
If we still haven’t heard from you regarding your relative being in or out for Christmas dinner please contact Reception as soon as possible. If they are going out please include a pickup time if you can.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Care Reports
Some of you may be wondering where they are as they are normally sent out in November. Unfortunately for me the file with the prefilled details for 60 people disappeared into the computer equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle and I had to start from scratch. So, while I started in November it has taken me until now to get them all done. They are about to be sent though.
You will see a Care Classification number. This replaces the old high and low care designations. The new system allocates each resident a care classification from 1 to 13. Sadly this is dependent mostly on mobility. Someone who can walk – even with assistance - but has severe dementia is deemed to need far less care than someone who is cognitively intact but can’t walk very well. As the classification is linked to funding this does not encourage facilities to improve people’s mobility and this is where we do worse than facilities who keep people in bed. Better for the residents but lousy for funding.
Star Ratings
If you haven’t heard of them, they are an initiative of the feds to enable prospective residents to compare facilities. They will be published on the My Aged Care website.
There are 4 sections each of which is given an individual star rating from 1 to 5 and then a facility wide single rating is calculated from that.
The 4 areas are: compliance, staffing, quality indicators (medications / weight loss etc) and consumer experience (interviews conducted in Sept with approx. 10% of residents- in our case it was 12 residents).
Facilities were notified of their ratings last week and given 7 days to ask questions.
We were given an overall rating of 4 stars.
Individually: Staffing 5 stars Quality Indicators 5 stars Compliance 4 stars and Consumer Experience 3 stars.
The last 2 are the issue.
For a 5 star compliance rating you need to have gone at least 3 years without any non compliance and have a full 3 years accreditation.
We meet those criteria. Our last non compliance was in 2006 – a long story involving apple cores in the suggestion box amongst other thing.
As for accreditation, we were offered an extra 18 months this year without having to be audited due to our long history of compliance so clearly a 4 star compliance rating makes no sense.
After 3 emails I finally got someone to contact me.
While the star ratings are part of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (formally the Agency), the computer system which works them out belongs to the Dept of Health and apparently it is not coping with odd periods of accreditation. In other words, our EXTRA 18 months is turning into ONLY 18 months and downgrading our star rating.
Apparently, they are drowning in complaints and trying to get it fixed before they are published.
So, we will eventually get a 5 star rating for compliance.
This leaves consumer experience, about which I also complained. We ask the same questions at all our wing meetings and never have only 23% of residents said they feel safe. That is only one of the stunning figures they gave us.
The interviewers could only give the residents 4 choices of answer to each question - always, most of the time, sometimes or never or the choice of a range of facial expressions.
When we ask the questions, we make sure the residents understand them and ask them to explain what they mean by their answer. These give results that are very different to the official interviews.
Some may say that perhaps residents are more comfortable being honest with strangers. Well, we thought of that which is why when we survey all 60 residents - as we just have – we use an external person rather than a staff member. The results also could not be more different to the Dept figures.
I have asked Krystal to put together a report on our latest full survey for you to see and add it to this update.
I explained all this to the person on the phone and she told me a story which kind of proves the point. Her father in law once told her he “didn’t feel safe with Mary (his wife)’. All sort of things went through her head - is she hitting him?, starving him ? She asked him to explain. It turned out his wife was worried he would fall so she walked really close behind him. This made him feel unsteady on his feet. Not the kind of unsafe that it sounded like.
Another question asks if residents have a say in their daily activities. Worded like that I expect that most residents think it refers to “activities’ such as bocce – not their daily routine which is the intent of the question. Another one asks – is this facility homelike? Once again some residents would interpret that as - is it the same as home – which of course it isn’t.
I believe a lot of facilities are very unhappy with the result of the interviews. The 2 interviewers were only on site for a short period and I know of one resident who walked out on them because he felt that they were trying to get him to criticize the staff (bless him).
If we had concerns that the results were in fact accurate, we would strive to fix things but with no context or knowledge of who or how residents were interviewed or what they actually meant that would be very difficult.
Anyway, we will get an overall rating of 4 stars which we will have to live with apparently.
Not the Christmas gift I was hoping for.
Fair Work Wage Case
The 15% increase for direct care staff who are under the Aged Care Award does not apply to our staff as they are all getting more than 15% above the Award rate already under our Enterprise Bargain Agreement. It is just as well as the Dept has just announced that those who are eligible will only get 10% next July with the other 5% in 2024. Big deal.
2023 and Beyond
With the extra beds and new kitchen, it is not just a matter of employing a few more staff, it is a golden opportunity to completely review the way we do everything, incorporate the plethora of new regulations and reporting and set the Village up for the next few years. This includes reviewing all policies, procedures, even forms and assessments as well as moving to a standard 8 hour shifts and contracts which are also multiples of 8 instead of the hodge podge they are.
This is a pretty big undertaking and will result in some major changes to work practices – increasing shift hours and moving start and finish times will take a bit of getting used to. We will keep both the staff and residents informed a good way ahead of each change.
See you on the other side of the holiday season.
Christmas Day
If we still haven’t heard from you regarding your relative being in or out for Christmas dinner please contact Reception as soon as possible. If they are going out please include a pickup time if you can.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Care Reports
Some of you may be wondering where they are as they are normally sent out in November. Unfortunately for me the file with the prefilled details for 60 people disappeared into the computer equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle and I had to start from scratch. So, while I started in November it has taken me until now to get them all done. They are about to be sent though.
You will see a Care Classification number. This replaces the old high and low care designations. The new system allocates each resident a care classification from 1 to 13. Sadly this is dependent mostly on mobility. Someone who can walk – even with assistance - but has severe dementia is deemed to need far less care than someone who is cognitively intact but can’t walk very well. As the classification is linked to funding this does not encourage facilities to improve people’s mobility and this is where we do worse than facilities who keep people in bed. Better for the residents but lousy for funding.
Star Ratings
If you haven’t heard of them, they are an initiative of the feds to enable prospective residents to compare facilities. They will be published on the My Aged Care website.
There are 4 sections each of which is given an individual star rating from 1 to 5 and then a facility wide single rating is calculated from that.
The 4 areas are: compliance, staffing, quality indicators (medications / weight loss etc) and consumer experience (interviews conducted in Sept with approx. 10% of residents- in our case it was 12 residents).
Facilities were notified of their ratings last week and given 7 days to ask questions.
We were given an overall rating of 4 stars.
Individually: Staffing 5 stars Quality Indicators 5 stars Compliance 4 stars and Consumer Experience 3 stars.
The last 2 are the issue.
For a 5 star compliance rating you need to have gone at least 3 years without any non compliance and have a full 3 years accreditation.
We meet those criteria. Our last non compliance was in 2006 – a long story involving apple cores in the suggestion box amongst other thing.
As for accreditation, we were offered an extra 18 months this year without having to be audited due to our long history of compliance so clearly a 4 star compliance rating makes no sense.
After 3 emails I finally got someone to contact me.
While the star ratings are part of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (formally the Agency), the computer system which works them out belongs to the Dept of Health and apparently it is not coping with odd periods of accreditation. In other words, our EXTRA 18 months is turning into ONLY 18 months and downgrading our star rating.
Apparently, they are drowning in complaints and trying to get it fixed before they are published.
So, we will eventually get a 5 star rating for compliance.
This leaves consumer experience, about which I also complained. We ask the same questions at all our wing meetings and never have only 23% of residents said they feel safe. That is only one of the stunning figures they gave us.
The interviewers could only give the residents 4 choices of answer to each question - always, most of the time, sometimes or never or the choice of a range of facial expressions.
When we ask the questions, we make sure the residents understand them and ask them to explain what they mean by their answer. These give results that are very different to the official interviews.
Some may say that perhaps residents are more comfortable being honest with strangers. Well, we thought of that which is why when we survey all 60 residents - as we just have – we use an external person rather than a staff member. The results also could not be more different to the Dept figures.
I have asked Krystal to put together a report on our latest full survey for you to see and add it to this update.
I explained all this to the person on the phone and she told me a story which kind of proves the point. Her father in law once told her he “didn’t feel safe with Mary (his wife)’. All sort of things went through her head - is she hitting him?, starving him ? She asked him to explain. It turned out his wife was worried he would fall so she walked really close behind him. This made him feel unsteady on his feet. Not the kind of unsafe that it sounded like.
Another question asks if residents have a say in their daily activities. Worded like that I expect that most residents think it refers to “activities’ such as bocce – not their daily routine which is the intent of the question. Another one asks – is this facility homelike? Once again some residents would interpret that as - is it the same as home – which of course it isn’t.
I believe a lot of facilities are very unhappy with the result of the interviews. The 2 interviewers were only on site for a short period and I know of one resident who walked out on them because he felt that they were trying to get him to criticize the staff (bless him).
If we had concerns that the results were in fact accurate, we would strive to fix things but with no context or knowledge of who or how residents were interviewed or what they actually meant that would be very difficult.
Anyway, we will get an overall rating of 4 stars which we will have to live with apparently.
Not the Christmas gift I was hoping for.
Fair Work Wage Case
The 15% increase for direct care staff who are under the Aged Care Award does not apply to our staff as they are all getting more than 15% above the Award rate already under our Enterprise Bargain Agreement. It is just as well as the Dept has just announced that those who are eligible will only get 10% next July with the other 5% in 2024. Big deal.
2023 and Beyond
With the extra beds and new kitchen, it is not just a matter of employing a few more staff, it is a golden opportunity to completely review the way we do everything, incorporate the plethora of new regulations and reporting and set the Village up for the next few years. This includes reviewing all policies, procedures, even forms and assessments as well as moving to a standard 8 hour shifts and contracts which are also multiples of 8 instead of the hodge podge they are.
This is a pretty big undertaking and will result in some major changes to work practices – increasing shift hours and moving start and finish times will take a bit of getting used to. We will keep both the staff and residents informed a good way ahead of each change.
See you on the other side of the holiday season.
2022 Resident Survey | |
File Size: | 1673 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Website Update 13/12/22
Firstly, on Wednesday 14th December there will be no car access at the front door from 6am until approximately 1pm. The entrance will be blocked off to cars in order to enable a series of concrete trucks to come in and out as they are pouring the slab that day.
If you have to pick up a resident, you will need to park in the car park and walk over. Staff will assist with getting the resident to and from your car if needed.
Covid
With rising numbers still and recent outbreaks in other nursing homes locally we are trying very hard not to have one over Christmas. Our main defense is the very strict mask wearing by all and doing a RAT before entry. If you have any symptoms of anything remotely connected with a cold or hayfever or whatever but have a negative RAT please do not come into the facility. Staff who have symptoms but a negative RAT are sent for a PCR and cannot work until they get the result. We continue to have the occasional staff member who contracts Covid out in the community but even when they had been at work prior to their positive test the masks have ensured that it hasn’t been passed to other staff or residents.
Christmas
Getting closer to Christmas so the deadline for letting us know if a resident will be in or out for Christmas dinner plus whether any relatives are coming in is Friday 16th December. Bruce needs numbers to order supplies early next week. This year will be the last where we are crammed into the morning tea area – next year we will be up in the new building.
Star Ratings will be published next week we believe. We have had a preview. I will do another website update about those in a few days.
Firstly, on Wednesday 14th December there will be no car access at the front door from 6am until approximately 1pm. The entrance will be blocked off to cars in order to enable a series of concrete trucks to come in and out as they are pouring the slab that day.
If you have to pick up a resident, you will need to park in the car park and walk over. Staff will assist with getting the resident to and from your car if needed.
Covid
With rising numbers still and recent outbreaks in other nursing homes locally we are trying very hard not to have one over Christmas. Our main defense is the very strict mask wearing by all and doing a RAT before entry. If you have any symptoms of anything remotely connected with a cold or hayfever or whatever but have a negative RAT please do not come into the facility. Staff who have symptoms but a negative RAT are sent for a PCR and cannot work until they get the result. We continue to have the occasional staff member who contracts Covid out in the community but even when they had been at work prior to their positive test the masks have ensured that it hasn’t been passed to other staff or residents.
Christmas
Getting closer to Christmas so the deadline for letting us know if a resident will be in or out for Christmas dinner plus whether any relatives are coming in is Friday 16th December. Bruce needs numbers to order supplies early next week. This year will be the last where we are crammed into the morning tea area – next year we will be up in the new building.
Star Ratings will be published next week we believe. We have had a preview. I will do another website update about those in a few days.
Website Update 18/11/22
Covid
Just when we thought restrictions might be about to wind back in aged care, the country decides to have another wave, so nothing will change.
Staff and visitors are still to wear the N95 masks, the declaration is still required from visitors as is the RAT before every visit.
We strongly encourage visitors to do the RAT before they come and just bring the evidence.
If someone comes unexpectedly, we will in future be giving them the RAT to do themselves and ask them to ring the doorbell when it has ‘cooked’.
This is to decrease the time burden on staff after hours as well as during the day – especially for the RNs on weekends when there is no Reception. While we are all used to being interrupted, it is particularly difficult for them when they are miles away from the door and in the middle of doing a dressing or some other clinical procedure.
There is currently no recommendation for anyone here to have a fifth dose of the vaccine- we will let you know if that changes.
Extension
Our building is really going ahead as they are doing a lot of preparation work for stage 2 while continuing to work on stage 1. This means that the completion date is still August 2023 even though stage 1 won’t be completed until March 2023.
We are starting to look at all the changes that will need to occur prior to opening the extra 15 beds. Obviously, we will need more staff but we are using the opportunity to completely review everything we do and how we do it as well.
Due to reduced access at the front entrance, we also ask visitors to be mindful of the available space and especially to only stop under the portico if collecting or returning residents.
Regulatory Compliance
There are so many regulatory changes coming next year – new standards AGAIN – barely 3 years after they changed them all and new staffing requirements on which I have “views” which would take too long and be too impolite to express here.
The star rating is coming in December and it will be very interesting. When they calculate the registered nurse part of the rating they only look at payroll, not the structure of the model of care or the qualifications or experience of those nurses. For example, in many facilities the RNs are part of the shift workforce performing the same tasks as carers and of course in all state owned facilities they only employ nurses- no carers at all. This alters the number of staff who come under the RN category. At Gorrinn, RNs don’t have a daily resident care load - we are responsible for chronic disease management, acute clinical assessments and a number of other things but it doesn’t take as many of us to do that as it would if we were out there showering people. I would back our clinical care against anyone but this new rating system is based on a very different system to ours so it will be interesting.
The Village is starting to find that one of the biggest barriers to acquiring new staff is accommodation. The rental market is dire in Ararat. We have already had to use one of our units temporarily to accommodate 2 staff and are starting to think we may have to renovate one of the old houses we currently use for storage as well, if we are to get not only replacement staff but the extra we will need for the new building.
The other barrier has been the difference in pay between aged care and disability which the federally funded 15% will go some way to alleviate. After all, why would you work 8 hours in aged care when you can get paid more to have a night’s sleep in a disability house? The pay increase will at least remove some of the gap and there may be more to come. The feds are apparently going to pay for it which would be essential. The sad part is at this stage it doesn’t apply to non-care staff – only nurses and carers. This is ridiculous as all staff contribute to “care”. One wonders if the feds are counting on facilities feeling so bad about it that they pay the others themselves – as we did with the Covid bonuses. Unfortunately, that isn’t an option for us. There are still 2 fair work pay revues to go and one of them is to include all staff.
Christmas
Christmas is almost upon us. It will be the same as last year – in the morning tea area. Since the space is limited, we will need to restrict family visitors to a maximum of 2 per resident again.
Next year we will have the space to have a lot more.
The cost will be $50 per person this year.
Covid
Just when we thought restrictions might be about to wind back in aged care, the country decides to have another wave, so nothing will change.
Staff and visitors are still to wear the N95 masks, the declaration is still required from visitors as is the RAT before every visit.
We strongly encourage visitors to do the RAT before they come and just bring the evidence.
If someone comes unexpectedly, we will in future be giving them the RAT to do themselves and ask them to ring the doorbell when it has ‘cooked’.
This is to decrease the time burden on staff after hours as well as during the day – especially for the RNs on weekends when there is no Reception. While we are all used to being interrupted, it is particularly difficult for them when they are miles away from the door and in the middle of doing a dressing or some other clinical procedure.
There is currently no recommendation for anyone here to have a fifth dose of the vaccine- we will let you know if that changes.
Extension
Our building is really going ahead as they are doing a lot of preparation work for stage 2 while continuing to work on stage 1. This means that the completion date is still August 2023 even though stage 1 won’t be completed until March 2023.
We are starting to look at all the changes that will need to occur prior to opening the extra 15 beds. Obviously, we will need more staff but we are using the opportunity to completely review everything we do and how we do it as well.
Due to reduced access at the front entrance, we also ask visitors to be mindful of the available space and especially to only stop under the portico if collecting or returning residents.
Regulatory Compliance
There are so many regulatory changes coming next year – new standards AGAIN – barely 3 years after they changed them all and new staffing requirements on which I have “views” which would take too long and be too impolite to express here.
The star rating is coming in December and it will be very interesting. When they calculate the registered nurse part of the rating they only look at payroll, not the structure of the model of care or the qualifications or experience of those nurses. For example, in many facilities the RNs are part of the shift workforce performing the same tasks as carers and of course in all state owned facilities they only employ nurses- no carers at all. This alters the number of staff who come under the RN category. At Gorrinn, RNs don’t have a daily resident care load - we are responsible for chronic disease management, acute clinical assessments and a number of other things but it doesn’t take as many of us to do that as it would if we were out there showering people. I would back our clinical care against anyone but this new rating system is based on a very different system to ours so it will be interesting.
The Village is starting to find that one of the biggest barriers to acquiring new staff is accommodation. The rental market is dire in Ararat. We have already had to use one of our units temporarily to accommodate 2 staff and are starting to think we may have to renovate one of the old houses we currently use for storage as well, if we are to get not only replacement staff but the extra we will need for the new building.
The other barrier has been the difference in pay between aged care and disability which the federally funded 15% will go some way to alleviate. After all, why would you work 8 hours in aged care when you can get paid more to have a night’s sleep in a disability house? The pay increase will at least remove some of the gap and there may be more to come. The feds are apparently going to pay for it which would be essential. The sad part is at this stage it doesn’t apply to non-care staff – only nurses and carers. This is ridiculous as all staff contribute to “care”. One wonders if the feds are counting on facilities feeling so bad about it that they pay the others themselves – as we did with the Covid bonuses. Unfortunately, that isn’t an option for us. There are still 2 fair work pay revues to go and one of them is to include all staff.
Christmas
Christmas is almost upon us. It will be the same as last year – in the morning tea area. Since the space is limited, we will need to restrict family visitors to a maximum of 2 per resident again.
Next year we will have the space to have a lot more.
The cost will be $50 per person this year.
29/09/2022
It has been a while so thought it was time for an update. It has been pretty quiet lately – relatively.
I will be on annual leave for 4 weeks from Monday and Jo Simmonds will be in charge of resident care.
We have given our modified Covid exposure procedure a couple of runs now and it works well with a minimum of restriction to the residents. Two residents have been exposed separately to Covid in the community over the last couple of months. One eventually tested positive herself and the other didn’t. The procedure is the same as for staff – frequent RATS, eating meals on their own- which in the resident’s case means in their room with a Hepa filter and the door shut- and wearing the P2 mask when out of their room – all for 5 days. They can still go out and still have visitors in the normal fashion as long as they remain negative.
They are NOT in isolation or quarantine. It is essentially “quarantine light’.
If they test positive during the 5 days they then start the standard 7 day full isolation, but can still have visitors of course.
The state department of health has started sending the regional public health units out to both residential care facilities and supported accommodation services to review their infection control systems and Covid preparedness. If you are thinking this initiative is possibly at the wrong end of the pandemic you would be correct. Apparently, there are still plenty of facilities who have struggled with outbreaks so they think it is still needed.
They visited us last week and were very complimentary which is nice. There has certainly been enough effort put into our systems and responses by everyone and it is good to hear that it was worth it. It took 4 weeks to completely recreate the entire infection control system and all the manuals. Anyone who would like to read it should feel free to come and do so. It’s riveting stuff.
The new funding system comes into effect on the 1st October. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I suspect it will be under resourced with facilities having to wait a long time for reassessments when care needs change – they are saying up to 8 weeks. The worst part of an unknown waiting period is if the resident passes away before they turn up there is no back pay. All the care that was provided even during the high needs period around end of life will be not reimbursed. This is how the new system will save the Dept money – by stealth. At least under the previous system we could reassess residents ourselves and we were reimbursed from the day we submitted the application.
Our building moves along at a snails pace, partly thanks to terrible weather. It doesn’t look like we will be in the new kitchen and laundry for Christmas as originally planned which will put our completion date back to roughly mid July next year. The original date was May.
It has been a while so thought it was time for an update. It has been pretty quiet lately – relatively.
I will be on annual leave for 4 weeks from Monday and Jo Simmonds will be in charge of resident care.
We have given our modified Covid exposure procedure a couple of runs now and it works well with a minimum of restriction to the residents. Two residents have been exposed separately to Covid in the community over the last couple of months. One eventually tested positive herself and the other didn’t. The procedure is the same as for staff – frequent RATS, eating meals on their own- which in the resident’s case means in their room with a Hepa filter and the door shut- and wearing the P2 mask when out of their room – all for 5 days. They can still go out and still have visitors in the normal fashion as long as they remain negative.
They are NOT in isolation or quarantine. It is essentially “quarantine light’.
If they test positive during the 5 days they then start the standard 7 day full isolation, but can still have visitors of course.
The state department of health has started sending the regional public health units out to both residential care facilities and supported accommodation services to review their infection control systems and Covid preparedness. If you are thinking this initiative is possibly at the wrong end of the pandemic you would be correct. Apparently, there are still plenty of facilities who have struggled with outbreaks so they think it is still needed.
They visited us last week and were very complimentary which is nice. There has certainly been enough effort put into our systems and responses by everyone and it is good to hear that it was worth it. It took 4 weeks to completely recreate the entire infection control system and all the manuals. Anyone who would like to read it should feel free to come and do so. It’s riveting stuff.
The new funding system comes into effect on the 1st October. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I suspect it will be under resourced with facilities having to wait a long time for reassessments when care needs change – they are saying up to 8 weeks. The worst part of an unknown waiting period is if the resident passes away before they turn up there is no back pay. All the care that was provided even during the high needs period around end of life will be not reimbursed. This is how the new system will save the Dept money – by stealth. At least under the previous system we could reassess residents ourselves and we were reimbursed from the day we submitted the application.
Our building moves along at a snails pace, partly thanks to terrible weather. It doesn’t look like we will be in the new kitchen and laundry for Christmas as originally planned which will put our completion date back to roughly mid July next year. The original date was May.
22/8/22
It seems our procedure for dealing with residents who have been exposed to Covid works well.
The resident did end up testing positive themselves but by the time they did they had been in modified quarantine for 2 days so no one else was exposed and the 7 day isolation that followed was completed without any problems.
Anti viral meds
One of the things the Dept keeps emphasizing is the use of the anti viral meds. The problem we had with them back in May was that the course of 8 capsules a day was impossible for some of the residents. This was due to the fact that they couldn’t be chewed or dismantled in any way which meant the residents who would normally have their meds crushed were unsuitable to receive them. Well, the manufacturer has now decided that they can be broken open and the contents dissolved in water so we have added that procedure to our plans. At the time of our outbreak the Public Health Unit stated that “mild disease” – and eligibility for the antiviral meds was defined as testing positive - regardless of whether the person had any symptoms at all. That has changed slightly and people should have at 1 symptom – which most would even if it is just a stuffy nose.
We are supposed to have consent for the antiviral organized in advance but I think our normal medication procedure is enough without that.
If a resident is able to be, they will be consulted in the normal way and asked if they agree to have them at the time. If they cannot be consulted due to inability to understand then the appropriate representative would be. We are talking about Lagevrio not Paxlovid – which reacts with just about every other medication everyone is on. Lagevrio has no known interactions and the only contraindications would be an allergy to the cellulose the capsule is made of or the colours of the ink they use in the writing on the capsule – neither of which is very likely.
Consumer Experience Interviews
The previous feds decided some time ago to send teams out to every facility in Australia to ask 10% of residents the Consumer Experience Questions. I have included a copy of the Dept handout on the program.
These questions have formed part of the accreditation audit process for some time so are not new. We have included them in our group of 40 questions we put to the residents at every Wing meeting so the residents are used to them. Our day is the 31st August and I will be letting the resident know at our routine general residents meeting next Wed. They chose the residents at random but if that person is unable to be interviewed they will contact a representative instead, so some of you may get a call on the 31st of August.
It seems our procedure for dealing with residents who have been exposed to Covid works well.
The resident did end up testing positive themselves but by the time they did they had been in modified quarantine for 2 days so no one else was exposed and the 7 day isolation that followed was completed without any problems.
Anti viral meds
One of the things the Dept keeps emphasizing is the use of the anti viral meds. The problem we had with them back in May was that the course of 8 capsules a day was impossible for some of the residents. This was due to the fact that they couldn’t be chewed or dismantled in any way which meant the residents who would normally have their meds crushed were unsuitable to receive them. Well, the manufacturer has now decided that they can be broken open and the contents dissolved in water so we have added that procedure to our plans. At the time of our outbreak the Public Health Unit stated that “mild disease” – and eligibility for the antiviral meds was defined as testing positive - regardless of whether the person had any symptoms at all. That has changed slightly and people should have at 1 symptom – which most would even if it is just a stuffy nose.
We are supposed to have consent for the antiviral organized in advance but I think our normal medication procedure is enough without that.
If a resident is able to be, they will be consulted in the normal way and asked if they agree to have them at the time. If they cannot be consulted due to inability to understand then the appropriate representative would be. We are talking about Lagevrio not Paxlovid – which reacts with just about every other medication everyone is on. Lagevrio has no known interactions and the only contraindications would be an allergy to the cellulose the capsule is made of or the colours of the ink they use in the writing on the capsule – neither of which is very likely.
Consumer Experience Interviews
The previous feds decided some time ago to send teams out to every facility in Australia to ask 10% of residents the Consumer Experience Questions. I have included a copy of the Dept handout on the program.
These questions have formed part of the accreditation audit process for some time so are not new. We have included them in our group of 40 questions we put to the residents at every Wing meeting so the residents are used to them. Our day is the 31st August and I will be letting the resident know at our routine general residents meeting next Wed. They chose the residents at random but if that person is unable to be interviewed they will contact a representative instead, so some of you may get a call on the 31st of August.
Website Update 8/8/22
Sorry about the recent short update – wanted to get something out before Reception left that day. Expanding a bit – the resident will remain in isolation until Thursday and given that she has not had any contact with any other residents since Tuesday, and only had contact with the infected person on Sunday 31st July it is unlikely – but not impossible – that she would have been infectious before she went into quarantine.
Even though we only need to consider 48 hours as the infectious period - which would mean from Tuesday, most of which was spent in quarantine - we decided to backtrack another 24 hours using Harald. This told us she had some contact with 4 residents on Monday so just to be cautious we did a PCR on those residents on Friday 5th. Their families are aware of this. The results were all negative as expected. All residents are well.
I chose to do PCRs rather than RATs as they pick up the virus on average 48 hours before a RAT does – and I am very impatient.
This is classified as an exposure – not an outbreak and none of the usual routines are affected.
Since our actual outbreak in May, one of the things we changed was to treat a resident exposure to an infected person in the same way as we do a staff exposure. That is – eating their meals on their own, daily RAT, and wear a N95 mask when out of their room - for 5 days. An exposure is defined as spending at least 15 minutes face to face without masks with someone during their infectious period (48 hours prior to testing positive).
Over the last few weeks, I have completely redone the entire infection prevention and control standard to simplify it and are treating Covid 19 as just another communicable disease that requires management within a comprehensive system. While there are differences between diseases, there are many common elements as well. For example, quarantine and isolation mean the same regardless of whether we are talking about covid or gastro so only need to be defined once.
Of course, literally just as I finished the folders, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Agency issued a copy of their assessor’s infection control monitoring checklist which is of course different to the Vic State Guidelines.
Sorry about the recent short update – wanted to get something out before Reception left that day. Expanding a bit – the resident will remain in isolation until Thursday and given that she has not had any contact with any other residents since Tuesday, and only had contact with the infected person on Sunday 31st July it is unlikely – but not impossible – that she would have been infectious before she went into quarantine.
Even though we only need to consider 48 hours as the infectious period - which would mean from Tuesday, most of which was spent in quarantine - we decided to backtrack another 24 hours using Harald. This told us she had some contact with 4 residents on Monday so just to be cautious we did a PCR on those residents on Friday 5th. Their families are aware of this. The results were all negative as expected. All residents are well.
I chose to do PCRs rather than RATs as they pick up the virus on average 48 hours before a RAT does – and I am very impatient.
This is classified as an exposure – not an outbreak and none of the usual routines are affected.
Since our actual outbreak in May, one of the things we changed was to treat a resident exposure to an infected person in the same way as we do a staff exposure. That is – eating their meals on their own, daily RAT, and wear a N95 mask when out of their room - for 5 days. An exposure is defined as spending at least 15 minutes face to face without masks with someone during their infectious period (48 hours prior to testing positive).
Over the last few weeks, I have completely redone the entire infection prevention and control standard to simplify it and are treating Covid 19 as just another communicable disease that requires management within a comprehensive system. While there are differences between diseases, there are many common elements as well. For example, quarantine and isolation mean the same regardless of whether we are talking about covid or gastro so only need to be defined once.
Of course, literally just as I finished the folders, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Agency issued a copy of their assessor’s infection control monitoring checklist which is of course different to the Vic State Guidelines.
Website Update 04/08/2022
We have a resident who was exposed to Covid out in the community on Sunday and tested positive on a RAT today. We will confirm this with a PCR. Her family is aware. She has been in quarantine since we were informed of the exposure so we are hopeful that it has not been passed on.
We have a resident who was exposed to Covid out in the community on Sunday and tested positive on a RAT today. We will confirm this with a PCR. Her family is aware. She has been in quarantine since we were informed of the exposure so we are hopeful that it has not been passed on.
Website Update 18/7/22
Well, the good news is that the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has decided to extend our accreditation until May 2024 without a site audit. Our accreditation was scheduled to expire in November this year and we were expecting the unannounced site audit around the middle of August. Apparently, after reviewing the results of the 2019 audit plus probably our clinical indicators, our self assessment, Serious Incident reports and the hundred other things we have to report to the feds, they have decided there are places they need to check out rather than us. I don’t know how often they do this as I had never heard of it, but we are pretty flattered. It is also interesting because I have been complaining that they treat all facilities as though they are the same as the worst of facilities and now I have to eat my words. Not that we were bothered by the idea of a site audit. We have been through many without any problems but I would have been less happy if they had only extended it by 12 months as that would have been not long after we open the new wing – too much at once.
Speaking of clinical indicators – we already report on weight loss, serious injuries, falls, pressure injuries, restraint, antipsychotic meds and how many resident are on 9 or more medications every 3 months. From October they will add hospitalisation, incontinence rashes, staff turnover, decline in activities of daily living, quality of life AND consumer experience. Not sure how some of those will be measured. Also, from October the new funding system comes into being where a resident’s care needs – and therefore how facilities will be funded for that resident – will be done by an external assessor who will send a short period of time with the resident. Currently we do observational assessments over 3 weeks - a brief chat is bound to be really accurate. The idea is of course to save the govt money – except they have moved the cost of assessments from the facilities to the taxpayer – and stripped thousands of registered nurses from hospitals and aged care to do them. Considering the health system is already short, this seems a bad idea.
The bad news is Covid cases are on the increase. The wearing of the P2 masks by staff and visitors is the single most useful thing we can do to prevent it getting in. This usefulness is of course conditional on visitors being as diligent as the staff are about wearing it properly. I know there are some who cheat but I strongly urge everyone to be conscientious. We have had a couple of situation where a visitor or staff member tested positive, were here during their infectious period, but because of the mask, it is not considered an exposure. This made a huge difference to what we have to do. If they had taken their mask off while with a resident inside, it means isolation and several tests for that resident.
The variable that I cannot control is when residents go out. I ask you to think about where you take a resident. If it is going to be in a small space with strangers, I suggest you take a P2 for them to wear. Well ventilated, larger spaces are preferable to small ones. Cosy cafes with the doors shut and the heating on and everyone breathing each other’s air are best avoided. We will undoubtedly get another outbreak at some stage and with this new variant we may not have as easy a time as we did last time. By easy I mean the residents were well – not the workload!
Now that the feds have finally caught up with our suggestion several months ago regarding the 4th vaccine, most of our staff are now eligible and are getting it, which is great. If there is one thing we know here it is what a difference the 4th dose made. Hopefully, that will be the same for this new variant.
The building site finally has visible progress with the pouring of the very large concrete slab. Now we may actually see some walls go up. The plan is still for the 1st stage – kitchen and laundry – to be handed over before the builders go on their Christmas break. This would be good.
Well, the good news is that the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has decided to extend our accreditation until May 2024 without a site audit. Our accreditation was scheduled to expire in November this year and we were expecting the unannounced site audit around the middle of August. Apparently, after reviewing the results of the 2019 audit plus probably our clinical indicators, our self assessment, Serious Incident reports and the hundred other things we have to report to the feds, they have decided there are places they need to check out rather than us. I don’t know how often they do this as I had never heard of it, but we are pretty flattered. It is also interesting because I have been complaining that they treat all facilities as though they are the same as the worst of facilities and now I have to eat my words. Not that we were bothered by the idea of a site audit. We have been through many without any problems but I would have been less happy if they had only extended it by 12 months as that would have been not long after we open the new wing – too much at once.
Speaking of clinical indicators – we already report on weight loss, serious injuries, falls, pressure injuries, restraint, antipsychotic meds and how many resident are on 9 or more medications every 3 months. From October they will add hospitalisation, incontinence rashes, staff turnover, decline in activities of daily living, quality of life AND consumer experience. Not sure how some of those will be measured. Also, from October the new funding system comes into being where a resident’s care needs – and therefore how facilities will be funded for that resident – will be done by an external assessor who will send a short period of time with the resident. Currently we do observational assessments over 3 weeks - a brief chat is bound to be really accurate. The idea is of course to save the govt money – except they have moved the cost of assessments from the facilities to the taxpayer – and stripped thousands of registered nurses from hospitals and aged care to do them. Considering the health system is already short, this seems a bad idea.
The bad news is Covid cases are on the increase. The wearing of the P2 masks by staff and visitors is the single most useful thing we can do to prevent it getting in. This usefulness is of course conditional on visitors being as diligent as the staff are about wearing it properly. I know there are some who cheat but I strongly urge everyone to be conscientious. We have had a couple of situation where a visitor or staff member tested positive, were here during their infectious period, but because of the mask, it is not considered an exposure. This made a huge difference to what we have to do. If they had taken their mask off while with a resident inside, it means isolation and several tests for that resident.
The variable that I cannot control is when residents go out. I ask you to think about where you take a resident. If it is going to be in a small space with strangers, I suggest you take a P2 for them to wear. Well ventilated, larger spaces are preferable to small ones. Cosy cafes with the doors shut and the heating on and everyone breathing each other’s air are best avoided. We will undoubtedly get another outbreak at some stage and with this new variant we may not have as easy a time as we did last time. By easy I mean the residents were well – not the workload!
Now that the feds have finally caught up with our suggestion several months ago regarding the 4th vaccine, most of our staff are now eligible and are getting it, which is great. If there is one thing we know here it is what a difference the 4th dose made. Hopefully, that will be the same for this new variant.
The building site finally has visible progress with the pouring of the very large concrete slab. Now we may actually see some walls go up. The plan is still for the 1st stage – kitchen and laundry – to be handed over before the builders go on their Christmas break. This would be good.
Just a quick note. Some of you may have heard that we hoped to return to having the front door unlocked for entry this weekend but due to advice from the Dept that RATs and temperatures must still be monitored that will not be possible. Hopefully we will get back to that one day soon.
Website Update
Residents are no longer restricted to 5 visitors per day each.
Other than that, all other conditions remain the same.
The P2/N95 mask is still required and is the best thing visitors and staff can do to prevent residents being classified as contacts. Even if we - or you - were here during our infectious period (48 hours prior) BUT were wearing a P2 mask – and wearing it properly and consistently - then there is no exposure and we do not have to test or quarantine any residents. This makes it worthwhile.
You can visit either in a resident’s room or a public area but the mask must not be removed while in the facility.
Completion of the declaration is also still required as is a RAT on the day you visit.
In order to avoid having set visiting times, it is better if visitors test themselves elsewhere and just bring a photo of the test. This also avoids having to sit out in the cold and waste 15 minutes.
From July 1st we will be reverting to not having Reception open on weekends, but there will always be someone who can do a RAT for you if necessary. The staff do one before every shift so they are all experts,
We are happy to provide RATS for visitors, especially regular ones. The federal health dept keeps sending them to us and will presumably do so while they mandate the testing.
On the building front there is occasionally some action when weather permits. Unfortunately, they are up to pouring a lot of concrete which cannot happen when raining. The builders are looking at beginning suitable tasks from stage 2 when they cannot do other things in order to save time later on. We are supposed to have completion in May 2023 but we suspect it will be a bit later than that with all the delays they have had. On the other hand they may pick up some time later on so here’s hoping.
I know the Care Reports are late – blame the outbreak. I hope to have them out next week.
Residents are no longer restricted to 5 visitors per day each.
Other than that, all other conditions remain the same.
The P2/N95 mask is still required and is the best thing visitors and staff can do to prevent residents being classified as contacts. Even if we - or you - were here during our infectious period (48 hours prior) BUT were wearing a P2 mask – and wearing it properly and consistently - then there is no exposure and we do not have to test or quarantine any residents. This makes it worthwhile.
You can visit either in a resident’s room or a public area but the mask must not be removed while in the facility.
Completion of the declaration is also still required as is a RAT on the day you visit.
In order to avoid having set visiting times, it is better if visitors test themselves elsewhere and just bring a photo of the test. This also avoids having to sit out in the cold and waste 15 minutes.
From July 1st we will be reverting to not having Reception open on weekends, but there will always be someone who can do a RAT for you if necessary. The staff do one before every shift so they are all experts,
We are happy to provide RATS for visitors, especially regular ones. The federal health dept keeps sending them to us and will presumably do so while they mandate the testing.
On the building front there is occasionally some action when weather permits. Unfortunately, they are up to pouring a lot of concrete which cannot happen when raining. The builders are looking at beginning suitable tasks from stage 2 when they cannot do other things in order to save time later on. We are supposed to have completion in May 2023 but we suspect it will be a bit later than that with all the delays they have had. On the other hand they may pick up some time later on so here’s hoping.
I know the Care Reports are late – blame the outbreak. I hope to have them out next week.
Website Update 6/6/22
Just a quick reminder about visiting.
Each resident is able to have up to 5 visitors per day. They can obviously go out whenever they want.
Visitors need to have a RAT before entering – that can either be done by us between 9am and 3 pm or at any time by the visitor themselves as long as they show us the evidence when they come.
Visitors still need to declare in writing that they are well – and regardless of having a negative RAT should absolutely not come in if they have any sort of respiratory symptom. I know that there are colds as well as the flu out there but even if your RAT is negative you are advised to go and have a PCR if you have any symptoms – do not assume it is a cold.
The most important thing is to wear the N95 mask at all times while visiting. We currently have a resident enduring 5 days in quarantine because a visitor pulled their mask down while visiting and then tested positive the next day.
If the resident ends up testing positive themselves as a result of the breach then the whole facility is back in isolation and we really want to avoid this.
We cannot avoid residents coming into contact with the virus while out of the building but with staff all wearing a N95 and visitors doing so as well we should be able to avoid it getting in by the other routes – as long as people do the right thing.
Just a quick reminder about visiting.
Each resident is able to have up to 5 visitors per day. They can obviously go out whenever they want.
Visitors need to have a RAT before entering – that can either be done by us between 9am and 3 pm or at any time by the visitor themselves as long as they show us the evidence when they come.
Visitors still need to declare in writing that they are well – and regardless of having a negative RAT should absolutely not come in if they have any sort of respiratory symptom. I know that there are colds as well as the flu out there but even if your RAT is negative you are advised to go and have a PCR if you have any symptoms – do not assume it is a cold.
The most important thing is to wear the N95 mask at all times while visiting. We currently have a resident enduring 5 days in quarantine because a visitor pulled their mask down while visiting and then tested positive the next day.
If the resident ends up testing positive themselves as a result of the breach then the whole facility is back in isolation and we really want to avoid this.
We cannot avoid residents coming into contact with the virus while out of the building but with staff all wearing a N95 and visitors doing so as well we should be able to avoid it getting in by the other routes – as long as people do the right thing.
Website Update 31/5/22
Covid
We are in the process of revising all our Covid plans in light of the reality of the outbreak.
Many things were different to what we expected from the guidelines. The frequency of testing, the contact numbers for various government departments, the non appearance of promised PPE etc.
Also we realized that we need to modify a few things when everyone is in their rooms. Food service being the main one. Trying to provide the same table service from a trolley in the corridor doesn’t really work. It is very slow and if there are staff missing, it means meals are late.
The solution is to have a greatly simplified quarantine menu, which is not only quicker to serve but reduces the burden on the kitchen as well. Examples of this would be biscuits for morning tea instead of the home made snacks, soup and sandwiches for the evening meal and the cereal options at breakfast reduced. In addition, the meal would be served all at once on the tray as you would get in hospital instead of individual courses which require multiple trips up and down the corridors. The staff did a great job but it was almost impossible to manage with the reduced number of people available to cook and serve. Lessons learnt though. We have now had 19 pallets of PPE delivered and will need to have a working bee on Thursday to clear out some space in our storage areas – given that we are currently having to store all the goods from the community centre as well while the building works are in place. The little house I stayed in for the duration of the outbreak now has pallets in every room including around my bed I believe. Cosy.
While the P2 masks will prevent staff and visitors from creating an exposure, we still have the problem of residents who come into contact with a positive person outside the Village. Unfortunately, at present, that will mean the resident has to isolate for 5 days and have 3 tests during that period. How long that will continue to be a requirement is unknown, but at the moment there is no choice.
Accreditation
While the rest of us were dealing with the outbreak, Krystal was getting our self assessment done for our accreditation application which was of course, due at the same time and the deadline was not negotiable. 75 pages later, she got it in on time. We deliberately chose an audit system that mirrors the self assessment tool which paid off as it enabled her to save a lot of time. The assessors will be hers some time between now and our November expiry date. Each resident and relative has to be informed in writing. The residents will each have a copy of the notice given to them and I am posting a copy here as well. For relatives without access to this website we will post a copy.
See below for the notice.
Covid
We are in the process of revising all our Covid plans in light of the reality of the outbreak.
Many things were different to what we expected from the guidelines. The frequency of testing, the contact numbers for various government departments, the non appearance of promised PPE etc.
Also we realized that we need to modify a few things when everyone is in their rooms. Food service being the main one. Trying to provide the same table service from a trolley in the corridor doesn’t really work. It is very slow and if there are staff missing, it means meals are late.
The solution is to have a greatly simplified quarantine menu, which is not only quicker to serve but reduces the burden on the kitchen as well. Examples of this would be biscuits for morning tea instead of the home made snacks, soup and sandwiches for the evening meal and the cereal options at breakfast reduced. In addition, the meal would be served all at once on the tray as you would get in hospital instead of individual courses which require multiple trips up and down the corridors. The staff did a great job but it was almost impossible to manage with the reduced number of people available to cook and serve. Lessons learnt though. We have now had 19 pallets of PPE delivered and will need to have a working bee on Thursday to clear out some space in our storage areas – given that we are currently having to store all the goods from the community centre as well while the building works are in place. The little house I stayed in for the duration of the outbreak now has pallets in every room including around my bed I believe. Cosy.
While the P2 masks will prevent staff and visitors from creating an exposure, we still have the problem of residents who come into contact with a positive person outside the Village. Unfortunately, at present, that will mean the resident has to isolate for 5 days and have 3 tests during that period. How long that will continue to be a requirement is unknown, but at the moment there is no choice.
Accreditation
While the rest of us were dealing with the outbreak, Krystal was getting our self assessment done for our accreditation application which was of course, due at the same time and the deadline was not negotiable. 75 pages later, she got it in on time. We deliberately chose an audit system that mirrors the self assessment tool which paid off as it enabled her to save a lot of time. The assessors will be hers some time between now and our November expiry date. Each resident and relative has to be informed in writing. The residents will each have a copy of the notice given to them and I am posting a copy here as well. For relatives without access to this website we will post a copy.
See below for the notice.
A Covid Update 21/5/22
At 7pm last night we finally got all the results of Thursday's PCR tests on our quarantined residents. All were still negative. This means that from this morning all the residents of Ivy, Wattle and Orchid wings are out of their rooms and able to return to eating in their dining roooms.
Orchid residents will still be confined to the Orchid wing as they are unable to come through the Rose dining room to the main lounge but they can move freely within Orchid.
Rose and Oak residents - including those who do not normally reside in those wings are, with 2 exceptions, out of post covid isolation as of yesterday and are now able to eat in the Rose dining room.
They cannot, however, come out of that area into the main lounge or mix with residents of other wings until Monday at least. The key pad doors are closed into that area.
The staff are now only required to wear P2 masks and eye shield with all residents except the 2 who are still in Covid isolation in their rooms in Rose. One of those residents will be out tomorrow and the last on Monday after which the outbreak should be formally declared over.
On Monday I have another meeting with the public health unit.
There will be yet another round of PCR tests for our negative residents which is hopefully the last one.
Also on Monday, subject to dept approval, the residents of Rose and Oak who normally reside in other wings should be able to return to their own rooms however they will be asked to stay in their rooms (no isolation protocols required) and not mix with the other residents for a further couple of days.
There are a couple of residents who may stay in Oak a little longer as they would be difficult to keep in their rooms and we do not want to start this whole process again
Even though people only have to isolate for 7 days there is a chance that some may still be slightly infectious for a few days after that.
Visitors have been allowed all through the outbreak - at your own risk of course.
And residents can go out except the Rose and Oak residents.
Visitors will still need a RAT each time and if you do them yourselves before you come then there is no time limit on visitors - it was only that we couldn't manage a separate staff member for longer than 6 hours a day to do visitor RATs that restricted it from 9 to 3.
All of the staff who worked many days in a row will have finally had at least one day off by tomorrow with special reference to our lone ranger cook Greg who racked up 10 in a row.
Jenny and Justine did a similar number as well.
The staff should be immensely proud of the fact that the outbreak did not spread beyond the initial residents identified Friday week ago. This is no mean feat.
Oh, and 7 pallets of PPE finally turned up last night, just in time for the end of the outbreak.
At 7pm last night we finally got all the results of Thursday's PCR tests on our quarantined residents. All were still negative. This means that from this morning all the residents of Ivy, Wattle and Orchid wings are out of their rooms and able to return to eating in their dining roooms.
Orchid residents will still be confined to the Orchid wing as they are unable to come through the Rose dining room to the main lounge but they can move freely within Orchid.
Rose and Oak residents - including those who do not normally reside in those wings are, with 2 exceptions, out of post covid isolation as of yesterday and are now able to eat in the Rose dining room.
They cannot, however, come out of that area into the main lounge or mix with residents of other wings until Monday at least. The key pad doors are closed into that area.
The staff are now only required to wear P2 masks and eye shield with all residents except the 2 who are still in Covid isolation in their rooms in Rose. One of those residents will be out tomorrow and the last on Monday after which the outbreak should be formally declared over.
On Monday I have another meeting with the public health unit.
There will be yet another round of PCR tests for our negative residents which is hopefully the last one.
Also on Monday, subject to dept approval, the residents of Rose and Oak who normally reside in other wings should be able to return to their own rooms however they will be asked to stay in their rooms (no isolation protocols required) and not mix with the other residents for a further couple of days.
There are a couple of residents who may stay in Oak a little longer as they would be difficult to keep in their rooms and we do not want to start this whole process again
Even though people only have to isolate for 7 days there is a chance that some may still be slightly infectious for a few days after that.
Visitors have been allowed all through the outbreak - at your own risk of course.
And residents can go out except the Rose and Oak residents.
Visitors will still need a RAT each time and if you do them yourselves before you come then there is no time limit on visitors - it was only that we couldn't manage a separate staff member for longer than 6 hours a day to do visitor RATs that restricted it from 9 to 3.
All of the staff who worked many days in a row will have finally had at least one day off by tomorrow with special reference to our lone ranger cook Greg who racked up 10 in a row.
Jenny and Justine did a similar number as well.
The staff should be immensely proud of the fact that the outbreak did not spread beyond the initial residents identified Friday week ago. This is no mean feat.
Oh, and 7 pallets of PPE finally turned up last night, just in time for the end of the outbreak.
COVID UPDDATE 15/5/22
On Thursday 12th following an exposure a round of RATs identified 6 residents with Covid.
The public health unit recommended a round of PCRs as well. These were done on Friday13th (prophetically). We got most of the results Saturday lunchtime, although we are still to receive 3.
This identified another 11 residents as positive. Five of those were not a surprise as they are residents of the original Wings of Oak or Rose. The rest were a surprise but this is why everyone was in isolation – so that if people were still incubating the virus they would not be in contact with any other residents. All the families of those residents were notified.
As with the first 6 residents the symptoms vary from non existent to slight with a couple of croaky voices, a scratchy throat and the odd cough and no one person has all of them. This has to be due to the 4th vaccine as the triple vacced staff are all far more symptomatic.
There was one thing I was not very happy about and I will take this up with the Department. Even though this was a mass screening done by an aged care facility during an outbreak, the results did not come to us. Some relatives got texts, just as you would if you had one done in the community but mostly there was nothing. In the end, the Urgent Care nurse managed to get one of the GPs to access results and read them out to me over the phone. Some only came through later in the day. Not what we were expecting. And if they want more PCR s done there will need to be a change to the way results are accessed.
As the total was now 17, having them scattered and in the same Wings as negative residents is logistically complicated as well as clinically undesirable so after some arithmetic we realised we could house all the positive residents within the Oak/Rose wing with a bit of creativity. This would mean residents would not need to be strictly confined to their rooms as with all of them in the same boat they would be able to move freely around the Wing if they wished to.
So, the 4 remaining covid negative residents of Rose wing moved to Wattle wing and the 4 positive residents from Wattle moved into Rose. There were a couple of residents from Orchid and one from Ivy who joined them. Rose and Oak combined consists of 15 beds as it was originally 1 Wing before we put a wall across the corridor some years ago. With 17 residents to house, there are 3 rooms with 2 people in them. We chose those pairings carefully and doubled up once more than was necessary in order to leave one room empty in case of need.
It was a pretty mammoth undertaking for a weekend day and would not have been possible if our outbreak plan had not included having one of the maintenance staff on site on a weekend. We had to move several beds and they are extremely heavy. Bedding and belongings went in and out in a coordinated system which ensured that we didn’t have positive and negative residents mixing during the move. It took a few hours but by teatime everyone was in their new “camp”. They will stay there for their isolation period. For some, that will mean release from isolation either Wed or Thurs but for all of those who moved it will be Friday.
The other driver for the decision was that we also have 17 staff in isolation so having people together makes staffing less diabolical. This weekend is probably going to be the worst to staff although we are still only a couple people short on some shifts and not at all on others. This is mostly because our wonderful staff are all doing many extra shifts.
On Monday the staffing will improve as a number of people return from various forms of leave and then on Tues and Wed we will start to have isolating staff return which will escalate on Thursday and Friday as like the residents, most of them tested positive on those days.
We have done another round of RATs on our PCR negative residents Sunday at the direction of the Public Health Unit. This was the 3rd round. There is only supposed to be 3 rounds - day 0 , day 3 and day 6 but the public health unit had us doing a third already on only day 3 so who knows how many more.
Tomorrow we have to do another round of PCRs.
In theory the negative residents should be out of quarantine by Wed but this will depend on the Department.
Obviously, I cannot now call the families of every positive resident 3 times a day but it will be at least once and more often if needed. People can visit- even the covid positive residents - at 1 visitor per resident for emotional support especially. RATs and PPE will be required and it is at your own risk.
We are down to 16 positive residents as it turns out giving verbal lists over the phone is open to error and 1 resident who was reported as positive isn’t and has since been moved back to her own wing.
Thanks for all the messages of support, it is greatly appreciated.
On Thursday 12th following an exposure a round of RATs identified 6 residents with Covid.
The public health unit recommended a round of PCRs as well. These were done on Friday13th (prophetically). We got most of the results Saturday lunchtime, although we are still to receive 3.
This identified another 11 residents as positive. Five of those were not a surprise as they are residents of the original Wings of Oak or Rose. The rest were a surprise but this is why everyone was in isolation – so that if people were still incubating the virus they would not be in contact with any other residents. All the families of those residents were notified.
As with the first 6 residents the symptoms vary from non existent to slight with a couple of croaky voices, a scratchy throat and the odd cough and no one person has all of them. This has to be due to the 4th vaccine as the triple vacced staff are all far more symptomatic.
There was one thing I was not very happy about and I will take this up with the Department. Even though this was a mass screening done by an aged care facility during an outbreak, the results did not come to us. Some relatives got texts, just as you would if you had one done in the community but mostly there was nothing. In the end, the Urgent Care nurse managed to get one of the GPs to access results and read them out to me over the phone. Some only came through later in the day. Not what we were expecting. And if they want more PCR s done there will need to be a change to the way results are accessed.
As the total was now 17, having them scattered and in the same Wings as negative residents is logistically complicated as well as clinically undesirable so after some arithmetic we realised we could house all the positive residents within the Oak/Rose wing with a bit of creativity. This would mean residents would not need to be strictly confined to their rooms as with all of them in the same boat they would be able to move freely around the Wing if they wished to.
So, the 4 remaining covid negative residents of Rose wing moved to Wattle wing and the 4 positive residents from Wattle moved into Rose. There were a couple of residents from Orchid and one from Ivy who joined them. Rose and Oak combined consists of 15 beds as it was originally 1 Wing before we put a wall across the corridor some years ago. With 17 residents to house, there are 3 rooms with 2 people in them. We chose those pairings carefully and doubled up once more than was necessary in order to leave one room empty in case of need.
It was a pretty mammoth undertaking for a weekend day and would not have been possible if our outbreak plan had not included having one of the maintenance staff on site on a weekend. We had to move several beds and they are extremely heavy. Bedding and belongings went in and out in a coordinated system which ensured that we didn’t have positive and negative residents mixing during the move. It took a few hours but by teatime everyone was in their new “camp”. They will stay there for their isolation period. For some, that will mean release from isolation either Wed or Thurs but for all of those who moved it will be Friday.
The other driver for the decision was that we also have 17 staff in isolation so having people together makes staffing less diabolical. This weekend is probably going to be the worst to staff although we are still only a couple people short on some shifts and not at all on others. This is mostly because our wonderful staff are all doing many extra shifts.
On Monday the staffing will improve as a number of people return from various forms of leave and then on Tues and Wed we will start to have isolating staff return which will escalate on Thursday and Friday as like the residents, most of them tested positive on those days.
We have done another round of RATs on our PCR negative residents Sunday at the direction of the Public Health Unit. This was the 3rd round. There is only supposed to be 3 rounds - day 0 , day 3 and day 6 but the public health unit had us doing a third already on only day 3 so who knows how many more.
Tomorrow we have to do another round of PCRs.
In theory the negative residents should be out of quarantine by Wed but this will depend on the Department.
Obviously, I cannot now call the families of every positive resident 3 times a day but it will be at least once and more often if needed. People can visit- even the covid positive residents - at 1 visitor per resident for emotional support especially. RATs and PPE will be required and it is at your own risk.
We are down to 16 positive residents as it turns out giving verbal lists over the phone is open to error and 1 resident who was reported as positive isn’t and has since been moved back to her own wing.
Thanks for all the messages of support, it is greatly appreciated.
Website Update 13/5/22
Well, I guess we couldn’t escape forever. Our first resident of the pandemic tested positive on Wed afternoon. We have had a few staff over the last 3 months who caught Covid either at home or in the community but we had never had even a definite exposure before let alone a positive resident. A full round of RATs told us by 9am that Wednesday we had 2 residents in Rose Wing, 3 in Oak and 1 in Orchid. All other Wings were clear. Today we still only have those 6 residents. Then the staff started calling in and by 7am Thursday we had 13 staff. Using our contact badges - Harald – we believe we have had 2 separate incursions – one in Oak and one in. The one resident in Orchid is a bit odd and may well be a dodgy positive. There is also a staff member who had not been at work for a couple of days who is positive and may have a community source. Why so many staff in Oak, well the staff find that they cannot communicate well with the Oak residents with a mask on and often need to remove it. Being able to see the staff’s expressions is an important part of communication with deaf people as well as those with cognitive impairment. We always thought that in Oak it would be one positive, all positive. At present there are 2 residents who are still negative as well as an empty bed. Due to the difficulty of persuading most of the Oak boys to stay in their rooms we are treating the whole area as a Red (positive) zone. All Covid positive residents except one are either completely, or almost completely, without symptoms – thank to being quadruple vaxxed. The staff, who - apart from a few of us oldies – are all too young for the winter booster, are considerably more unwell than the residents. Yesterday was a tad busy. The priority was ensuring all residents didn’t leave their rooms this morning until we had performed a RAT on each of them. After that there were families to notify. I wanted to make sure the text we sent was clear about all families of contacts and cases having been informed. We then had a quick Outbreak Management Team meeting to set everyone’s tasks on track, followed by getting all the PPE kits, bins, stands and other equipment put into place. Then there is the bureaucracy of an outbreak which involves notifying multiple state and federal departments. If only it were that simple. Between web pages that should exist but don’t, phone numbers that send you to the wrong place and the my aged care portal that had some sort of seizure and informed me that we had 3 open outbreaks from March while refusing to allow me to enter the one we actually have, it was an enormous waste of time. In the end, thanks to Matthew, Carmen, and a lovely person at the health dept technical disaster line who had to unfreeze the portal, we got it all done eventually. If the feds chip me for not reporting the outbreak “immediately” – well, there may be words uttered. So yesterday was been about getting our plans in place and looking at the next few days ahead. The important thing is that the residents are well. We have to do a full round of PCR tests in the morning as the Vic dept public health unit contradicts the Vic health dept guidelines - which - updated today believe it or not- say RATS are fine. If all the negative RATS turn into negative PCRs, then most of the resident may be out of quarantine early next week. It is not recommended that anyone – even the positive cases – stay in quarantine or isolation for more than 7 days. Today we will commence phoning every relative every day just to give an update on their wellbeing plus 3 times a day for those who have the Covid. Essential visitors are permitted and this includes for social or emotional support which is probably more important at present - 1 per resident per day – even for positive residents but it is at your own risk and you need to consider that risk, not just for yourself but in the context of your particular circumstances. Thanks to everyone for not drowning us in phone calls - it is greatly appreciated. While doing the PCR tests this morning it gave me an opportunity to have a chat with the residents and they are all pretty relaxed at present but the less time they spend in their rooms the better so here is hoping all the PCR tests are negative. Covid Update
Last week, every day saw another set of Covid guidelines, flow charts, management tool etc, etc arrive from a number of “alphabet agencies” both federal and state. Unsurprisingly, the instructions for the same subject were different depending on whether the author was Vic Health or the feds. This now includes quite different definitions of an outbreak, different testing and isolation protocols and several others including how long residents would be in quarantine. One set of docs says a week, another says maybe only if they want to! The Board supports our Covid Outbreak Management Plan which will use our tested and very successful gastro and flu outbreak procedures with a covid twist. One of the documents still suggests that we move residents and their belongings from room to room into different zones depending on whether they are positive, high risk contact, low risk contact or cleared. All I can see in my head is the Benny Hill chase scenes with Neil as Benny running around the building moving furniture while an army of carers follow with clothing. A great way to move Covid around the building. Roughly our Plan is - outbreak – quarantine all and test three times over 5 days – if still neg, come out of quarantine. Our ‘zones “ will be the resident’s single room.Designated staff look after positive people only as they do with gastro. During a gastro outbreak we have never had a staff member get sick nor have any residents other than those who were already unwell on the first day or were incubating it, so we are confident we can replicate that with covid or any other virus that pops up. The visiting requirements have not changed although we are happy to accept proof of a negative RAT done either by the visitor before arriving that day or by other organisations, for example the prison or EHGS both of whom have daily testing for staff. For those visitors who don’t need us to test, the visiting hours are able to be more flexible than the 9 to 3 that we have a tester on site for. So far we have had no exposures although we have had 3 staff with covid over the last couple of months. What was interesting was the difference in symptoms between the 2 who were triple vacced and the 1 who had been due to have the booster a couple of days after she got sick. That person was significantly sicker and for longer than the others. What we have also had a couple of staff with over the last 2 weeks is what I suspect to be the flu – not a cold – the actual flu. The sudden onset of body aches, fatigue and a sore throat was initially assumed to be Covid but with negative PCR, it obviously wasn’t. This is a concern as none of us have had the flu vaccine this year as it hasn’t been released yet. I am more worried about unvaccinated staff and especially residents getting the flu at the moment than I am about covid as we are all triple vacced against that. As you cannot just rock up to the hosp and ask for a flu swab we will obtain a blank request from one of our GPs and is another staff member has those symptoms I will be swabbing them for flu as well as covid. The good thing is staff know not to come to work with any symptom of any disease whatsoever - including tinea - until they have rung me. Covid Update 24/1/22
I do wish the media would not treat aged care facilities as though they were one entity. Be reassured – we are not ‘in crisis”. We have an abundance of staff at the best of times and we have experienced far less sick leave over the last 2 years than we usually do. This may have something to do with the fact that all staff who are ringing in sick have to ring me – and get grilled about their symptoms. We currently have 2 staff members isolating with the virus. Neither were at work during their infectious period so no one has been exposed. All our residents are triple vaccinated and we only have 10 staff out of 83 who are yet to have their third and that is happening here this week. They are constantly changing the isolation requirements as the pandemic evolves and aged care staff can still work under certain rules if they are a close contact of a positive case. Hospital staff cannot but I think that may well change. If they trust aged care staff to wear appropriate PPE and do the right thing, you would expect they could trust hospital staff. I am keen to get a plan for access to the Paxlovid antiviral in the event of an outbreak given how successful giving everyone Tamiflu was. When we had a small influenza outbreak in 2017 we gave every resident Tamiflu, both as a treatment for those who had it and as a prophylactic for everyone else. I am not sure whether Paxlovid is used as a prophylactic or just a treatment but will find out in due course. Staff are being tested for Covid twice a week at home before they come in then show us the result. This is a lot more efficient than having 15 people lined up at the door at 6.30am for a test. Visitors are being tested prior to each visit which is a bit of a nuisance for them but everyone is being really cooperative. I don’t know how sustainable that is given we have no word about further RATs being distributed. Given that visitors are being tested every time and staff regularly, the risk for residents is reduced to being out of the facility in the community. It is really important that when taking someone out that they wear a mask even in the street if they are around other people. It only takes one infected breath. Ideally, I would send them out with a P2 mask, but given uncertainty about being able to replace the ones we have stashed for an outbreak, I can’t do that. The visiting rules remain the same – 5 visitors per day per resident, declaration and RAT. Covid Update Tuesday 11/01/2021
OK, here we are in the new year with a whole new set of problems and a whole new set of regulations. The problem being Omicron. I feel a bit like whoever it was trying to keep the Barbarian hordes away from the door – with about the same amount of success. Today Ararat has 80 active cases and that is probably an underestimate as not everyone can get hold of a RAT or knows they need one etc, etc. As for PCR tests they are running at between 3 and 7 days for results. Unfortunately, it is almost inevitable that we will have at least an exposure and possibly an outbreak at some point. We already have a handful of staff isolating due to being close contacts of a positive case and I expect that to only increase. Sooner or later one of them will “turn”. With regard to regulations - I made it mandatory yesterday for all our staff to have the booster- only to have Dan copy me a couple of hours later, so now he will get the blame instead of me which is good. We had already organized a staff vaccine clinic on site for the 28th Jan. We would like to put staff into the P2 masks instead of surgical ones but they are almost impossible to get so we need to save the ones we have for the first couple of days if we get an outbreak. After that the Dept would send more but otherwise not. The Dept has also said that all visitors to aged care will need to have a negative RAT before coming in. If that cannot occur due to supply then visiting is reduced to 2 visitors a day per resident from the current 5. I have reservations about that and having un tested visitors in the facility will be limited to end of life at this point. Also, due to needing to have someone available to test visitors we are going to have to ask that except in exceptional circumstances or end of life that visitors do not arrive after 3pm for the next couple of weeks. For the sake of your noses, I would suggest that you space your visits out and certainly not more than once a day. We have received a shipment of RATS so will start that testing of both staff and visitors from Monday 18th January. Also, we have to do a RAT on staff every 3rd day but as most are part time we are making that twice a week. While Omicron is raging, we ask that visiting returns to being in resident’s rooms with no visitors staying in communal areas and no visitors present for morning or afternoon tea or happy hour. Strict mask wearing is required even in the resident’s room. Please remember that the virus enters and leaves through your nose and that you might as well wear it on your backside as under your nose. We also ask that you be very mindful of where you take residents when you go out and avoid small enclosed spaces and ensure they wear masks even in the street. Regardless of the Dept definition of a close contact or a negative RAT, we ask that even if you are a social or casual contact of a positive case you do not visit Gorrinn until 7 days after that contact occurred. And please get your booster and let us know you have had it. Website Update Tuesday 30/11/2021 November
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Website Update 9/6/21
Restricted access to residential aged care facilities will remain after midnight on the 10th June. There are no changes. Visiting only for end of life or other essential situations. This includes residents going out only for essential reasons as far as we know. There is no indication how long this will continue but I expect that while there is an active outbreak in a nursing home anywhere in the state, DHHS will restrict visiting. |
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COVID UPDATE THURSDAY 3/6/21
Regional Victoria has a number of restrictions removed from midnight tonight.
What doesn’t change however is the visiting restriction for residential aged care.
For another 7 days residents are only able to have visitors for end of life.
They are also unable to go out except for essential medical appointments.
Hopefully, if the number continue to hold, or preferably drop, then we will have those restrictions removed before the 7 days is up.
The residents are all in good spirits and very happy to have been fully vaccinated, when so many still haven’t.
We are also edging closer to 100% staff vaccination, at least for a first dose. Many staff have had both.
The National Cabinet meets tomorrow to debate mandatory vaccination for aged care workers. Our state government has already done this for the state run facilities. That generally means those attached to public hospitals such as Lowe St and Garden View Court in Ararat.
If the feds don’t mandate vaccinations, the fact that the state has, may give not for profits such as us and the private sector the OK to do so individually.
We will see. If we cannot and there are staff who decline we will look at the risks and come up with a solution.
Regional Victoria has a number of restrictions removed from midnight tonight.
What doesn’t change however is the visiting restriction for residential aged care.
For another 7 days residents are only able to have visitors for end of life.
They are also unable to go out except for essential medical appointments.
Hopefully, if the number continue to hold, or preferably drop, then we will have those restrictions removed before the 7 days is up.
The residents are all in good spirits and very happy to have been fully vaccinated, when so many still haven’t.
We are also edging closer to 100% staff vaccination, at least for a first dose. Many staff have had both.
The National Cabinet meets tomorrow to debate mandatory vaccination for aged care workers. Our state government has already done this for the state run facilities. That generally means those attached to public hospitals such as Lowe St and Garden View Court in Ararat.
If the feds don’t mandate vaccinations, the fact that the state has, may give not for profits such as us and the private sector the OK to do so individually.
We will see. If we cannot and there are staff who decline we will look at the risks and come up with a solution.
Covid 19 Update 27th May 2021
As of 11.59pm on the 27th May 2021 there are no visitors allowed into residential aged care facilities other than during end of life.
This is in effect until 11.59pm on the 3rd of June – at this stage.
As with the rest of Victorians, residents can only leave for one of the 5 permitted reasons.
For our residents the only one that applies is essential medical care.
Be assured that their lifestyle within the building will continue as normal.
I will update them this afternoon while we are doing the Fluvax session.
Don’t forget you can phone at any time and avail yourselves of the Ipad.
If you wish to use the Ipad please ring Reception on 53522654 and book a time.
As of 11.59pm on the 27th May 2021 there are no visitors allowed into residential aged care facilities other than during end of life.
This is in effect until 11.59pm on the 3rd of June – at this stage.
As with the rest of Victorians, residents can only leave for one of the 5 permitted reasons.
For our residents the only one that applies is essential medical care.
Be assured that their lifestyle within the building will continue as normal.
I will update them this afternoon while we are doing the Fluvax session.
Don’t forget you can phone at any time and avail yourselves of the Ipad.
If you wish to use the Ipad please ring Reception on 53522654 and book a time.
Covid Update: 26th May 2021
While the additional general restrictions only apply to Metropolitan Melbourne there are now statewide changes to the visiting rules for residential aged care facilities.
These restrictions are in force until June 4th.
The previous requirement of completing a declaration still stands.
The mask must be worn at all times including in a resident’s room.
Visiting can only take place in the resident’s room and not in any other space.
People from Melbourne can still visit but must be sure that they have not visited an exposure site during the relevant period and must be completely well with no respiratory or ‘head cold” symptoms of any sort.
Each resident may only have 2 visitors in their room at any one time.
Each resident can only have 5 visitors per day.
There are no other limits or restrictions on visiting.
Residents may still go out.
I am meeting with the residents today to inform them of the current situation.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
For current Victorian Restrictions, please click here
While the additional general restrictions only apply to Metropolitan Melbourne there are now statewide changes to the visiting rules for residential aged care facilities.
These restrictions are in force until June 4th.
The previous requirement of completing a declaration still stands.
The mask must be worn at all times including in a resident’s room.
Visiting can only take place in the resident’s room and not in any other space.
People from Melbourne can still visit but must be sure that they have not visited an exposure site during the relevant period and must be completely well with no respiratory or ‘head cold” symptoms of any sort.
Each resident may only have 2 visitors in their room at any one time.
Each resident can only have 5 visitors per day.
There are no other limits or restrictions on visiting.
Residents may still go out.
I am meeting with the residents today to inform them of the current situation.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
For current Victorian Restrictions, please click here
Last updated: 11/5/21
Covid 19
Well, nothing has changed on the Covid front for residential aged care since our last update. Screening and declarations are still required before entry for both staff and visitors. The density limit for visitors also still applies for communal areas, which is why visits cannot take place in the main lounge. Everywhere else is fine. Masks are still being worn by staff and visitors. I am hoping that will change now all the residents are vaccinated – at least for the staff and visitors who are also vaccinated at least. We will see.
The big news is that all the residents, and the 14 staff who were able to have the “leftover “ doses were given their second vaccination on Thursday. It went smoothly once the vaccine arrived- which as with the first one – was about 10 am. We started just before 10.30 and were finished by 11.30. The team from Aspen Medical still had quite a lot of paperwork to do after that, which is why they bring 8 people, even though only 2 or 3 are giving injections. The documentation is massive.
As expected, there were a couple of tender arms and aches and pains the next day – amongst the 14 staff - not the residents though. And that was it.
I will however have to put in a complaint to Bill Gates as I am not getting FM radio through the “chip in the vaccine” as I was hoping. Very disappointing.
The Fluvax for the residents is booked for 27th May at the facility as usual. Unfortunately the staff cannot have theirs onsite this year due to having to have their Covid vaccination checked online before the Fluvax and that cannot be done from the facility, so staff will have to go to the Medical Centre. Hopefully it won’t affect our usual 100% vaccination rate.
Redevelopment
After what seems like years – because it is – we have appointed a builder for the redevelopment project.
Phase 1 should begin in around 5 weeks. This will consist of creating a new kitchen and laundry in the Community Centre and linking the 2 buildings. It is supposed to be completed by Christmas. Phase 2 will start in the New Year, which is to demolish the current staff and service corridor and build the new 15 bed wing in that area along with the old carpark. This is expected to be completed by mid 2022 after which we will fill the beds.
Grant
We are finally at the end of our Refurbishment Grant with the laying of the new carpets in hallways and lounges. Being carpet tiles, it hasn’t been as disruptive as the vinyl was, and it looks great. The new vinyl and the carpet will be used in the new wing as well, so this is a preview.
Care Reports
In the next couple of weeks the twice a year Care Reports will be going out – unless the resident has been here only a few weeks. In that case they will have one sent next time.
Phone Contact
Just a reminder that not everyone who answers a phone remembers who’s daughter or son you are and some of us know some but not all. Even if you give your name it is a good idea to also say who you are enquiring about. ‘How’s mum today’ is tricky when you have no other information. Also if your contact details alter please let us know.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Covid 19
Well, nothing has changed on the Covid front for residential aged care since our last update. Screening and declarations are still required before entry for both staff and visitors. The density limit for visitors also still applies for communal areas, which is why visits cannot take place in the main lounge. Everywhere else is fine. Masks are still being worn by staff and visitors. I am hoping that will change now all the residents are vaccinated – at least for the staff and visitors who are also vaccinated at least. We will see.
The big news is that all the residents, and the 14 staff who were able to have the “leftover “ doses were given their second vaccination on Thursday. It went smoothly once the vaccine arrived- which as with the first one – was about 10 am. We started just before 10.30 and were finished by 11.30. The team from Aspen Medical still had quite a lot of paperwork to do after that, which is why they bring 8 people, even though only 2 or 3 are giving injections. The documentation is massive.
As expected, there were a couple of tender arms and aches and pains the next day – amongst the 14 staff - not the residents though. And that was it.
I will however have to put in a complaint to Bill Gates as I am not getting FM radio through the “chip in the vaccine” as I was hoping. Very disappointing.
The Fluvax for the residents is booked for 27th May at the facility as usual. Unfortunately the staff cannot have theirs onsite this year due to having to have their Covid vaccination checked online before the Fluvax and that cannot be done from the facility, so staff will have to go to the Medical Centre. Hopefully it won’t affect our usual 100% vaccination rate.
Redevelopment
After what seems like years – because it is – we have appointed a builder for the redevelopment project.
Phase 1 should begin in around 5 weeks. This will consist of creating a new kitchen and laundry in the Community Centre and linking the 2 buildings. It is supposed to be completed by Christmas. Phase 2 will start in the New Year, which is to demolish the current staff and service corridor and build the new 15 bed wing in that area along with the old carpark. This is expected to be completed by mid 2022 after which we will fill the beds.
Grant
We are finally at the end of our Refurbishment Grant with the laying of the new carpets in hallways and lounges. Being carpet tiles, it hasn’t been as disruptive as the vinyl was, and it looks great. The new vinyl and the carpet will be used in the new wing as well, so this is a preview.
Care Reports
In the next couple of weeks the twice a year Care Reports will be going out – unless the resident has been here only a few weeks. In that case they will have one sent next time.
Phone Contact
Just a reminder that not everyone who answers a phone remembers who’s daughter or son you are and some of us know some but not all. Even if you give your name it is a good idea to also say who you are enquiring about. ‘How’s mum today’ is tricky when you have no other information. Also if your contact details alter please let us know.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Latest update 06/04/2021
We have finally been given a date for the residents to have their Covid 19 vaccinations.
The first one will be on the 15th April with the second one on the 6th May.
This will be the Phizer vaccine. The residents have been informed today.
Fluvax will be at least 15 days after that.
Staff are not being vaccinated for Covid on site but will access it through the various Covid clinics.
A number of people have asked why the apparent delay for residents when other tiers are being vaccinated around us.
The short answer is two jurisdictions.
The federal government is responsible for vaccinating not for profit and private facilities Australia wide while the states are responsible for state owned facilities and the general public. Don’t ask because I have no idea why.
There are no changes to Covid rules except that staff no longer have to wear masks if they are not in the presence of residents or visitors such as in the kitchen, laundry or private offices.
Hopefully, masks will go for us all soon.
From April 1st the Commonwealth’s new Serious Incident Response Scheme begins. This is an expansion of the three previous areas of mandatory reporting to eight. It requires us to report Priority 1 Incidents to the Aged Care Safety and Quality Commission within 24 hours and commencing in October, Priority 2 Incidents within 30 days.
The big difference, apart from being 8 instead of 3 types of incidents, is that physical aggression by a resident with a cognitive impairment toward another resident is no longer exempt from reporting.
The 8 categories are - the original 3 of physical assault (now renamed unreasonable use of force), unlawful sexual contact or conduct and missing resident (renamed unexplained absence from care).
To those have been added - neglect, psychological or emotional abuse, stealing by a staff member, inappropriate physical or chemical restraint and unexpected death.
While most of those refer to actions by staff, both unreasonable use of force and psychological and emotional abuse also include actions by other residents. Physical assault always has included residents but there was discretion around reporting if the perpetrator had a cognitive impairment. This no longer exists. Once the Commission receives the report online there are a number of steps and actions open to them under the new legislation.
We are finally about to appoint a contractor for our new 15 bed expansion with work commencing in a few weeks hopefully. The first stage is the renovation of the Community building to include a bigger kitchen and laundry. After that the current kitchen, laundry and service wing will be demolished and the new wing built. We are trying to figure out where to put those services until they can be moved to the new wing. It is about to get very cosy in some of the offices as sharing will be necessary. Finally an advantage to being the occupant of one of the smallest offices – no way to share mine.
The replacement of the floor coverings in the resident’s rooms began last week. The installers are doing 2 rooms per day, helped by our maintenance department who are starting at 7am to get the furniture out and the carpet up before the installers arrive. The residents all love their new floors –in spite of the early start on the day - and think they make the rooms look much bigger. Once the rooms are done the carpet in the hallways will be replaced. Can’t wait to see the back of the gloomy stuff I have to say.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
We have finally been given a date for the residents to have their Covid 19 vaccinations.
The first one will be on the 15th April with the second one on the 6th May.
This will be the Phizer vaccine. The residents have been informed today.
Fluvax will be at least 15 days after that.
Staff are not being vaccinated for Covid on site but will access it through the various Covid clinics.
A number of people have asked why the apparent delay for residents when other tiers are being vaccinated around us.
The short answer is two jurisdictions.
The federal government is responsible for vaccinating not for profit and private facilities Australia wide while the states are responsible for state owned facilities and the general public. Don’t ask because I have no idea why.
There are no changes to Covid rules except that staff no longer have to wear masks if they are not in the presence of residents or visitors such as in the kitchen, laundry or private offices.
Hopefully, masks will go for us all soon.
From April 1st the Commonwealth’s new Serious Incident Response Scheme begins. This is an expansion of the three previous areas of mandatory reporting to eight. It requires us to report Priority 1 Incidents to the Aged Care Safety and Quality Commission within 24 hours and commencing in October, Priority 2 Incidents within 30 days.
The big difference, apart from being 8 instead of 3 types of incidents, is that physical aggression by a resident with a cognitive impairment toward another resident is no longer exempt from reporting.
The 8 categories are - the original 3 of physical assault (now renamed unreasonable use of force), unlawful sexual contact or conduct and missing resident (renamed unexplained absence from care).
To those have been added - neglect, psychological or emotional abuse, stealing by a staff member, inappropriate physical or chemical restraint and unexpected death.
While most of those refer to actions by staff, both unreasonable use of force and psychological and emotional abuse also include actions by other residents. Physical assault always has included residents but there was discretion around reporting if the perpetrator had a cognitive impairment. This no longer exists. Once the Commission receives the report online there are a number of steps and actions open to them under the new legislation.
We are finally about to appoint a contractor for our new 15 bed expansion with work commencing in a few weeks hopefully. The first stage is the renovation of the Community building to include a bigger kitchen and laundry. After that the current kitchen, laundry and service wing will be demolished and the new wing built. We are trying to figure out where to put those services until they can be moved to the new wing. It is about to get very cosy in some of the offices as sharing will be necessary. Finally an advantage to being the occupant of one of the smallest offices – no way to share mine.
The replacement of the floor coverings in the resident’s rooms began last week. The installers are doing 2 rooms per day, helped by our maintenance department who are starting at 7am to get the furniture out and the carpet up before the installers arrive. The residents all love their new floors –in spite of the early start on the day - and think they make the rooms look much bigger. Once the rooms are done the carpet in the hallways will be replaced. Can’t wait to see the back of the gloomy stuff I have to say.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Last updated: 05/03/2021
Restrictions
As of 11.59pm Friday 26/2/21 we returned to pre Christmas restrictions.
That means there are no restrictions on visiting times, numbers or duration. Visitors still need to be screened prior to entry, wear a mask and have their visit either in the resident’s room or an area that doesn’t have other residents or visitors in it. Outings continue to be unrestricted.
Vaccine
Residents of aged care facilities and staff are in the first group for the vaccine. Ballarat Health Services are the primary Health Network responsible for the Grampians region and will contact us at some point with a date.
We are not sure if staff are being vaccinated the same day as residents as yet.
As a number of facilities have only been given very short notice we are trying to ensure we are ready to go.
The doctors have spoken to all their patients both individually and in groups about the vaccine and have given them the opportunity to ask questions. We have also had our own conversations with residents. Unlike the Fluvax a written consent is required. As many as possible will be supported to give their own consent as cognition deficits are not a contraindication unless the person is unable to understand the information. Remembering it the next day is not so important. We have around one third of residents who have needed to have their alternate decision maker sign for them and greatly appreciate the swift response of those of you who have had to do this.
The residents will be monitored for the usual vaccine side effects as we always do and the doctors have spoken to them about what to expect in the way of sore arms and aches and pains.
We have had a 100% uptake by residents which is fantastic.
When we have a date I will send a text to let you know.
Staff will not be done on the same day apparently and there is no word as yet on the staff rollout for aged care.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Restrictions
As of 11.59pm Friday 26/2/21 we returned to pre Christmas restrictions.
That means there are no restrictions on visiting times, numbers or duration. Visitors still need to be screened prior to entry, wear a mask and have their visit either in the resident’s room or an area that doesn’t have other residents or visitors in it. Outings continue to be unrestricted.
Vaccine
Residents of aged care facilities and staff are in the first group for the vaccine. Ballarat Health Services are the primary Health Network responsible for the Grampians region and will contact us at some point with a date.
We are not sure if staff are being vaccinated the same day as residents as yet.
As a number of facilities have only been given very short notice we are trying to ensure we are ready to go.
The doctors have spoken to all their patients both individually and in groups about the vaccine and have given them the opportunity to ask questions. We have also had our own conversations with residents. Unlike the Fluvax a written consent is required. As many as possible will be supported to give their own consent as cognition deficits are not a contraindication unless the person is unable to understand the information. Remembering it the next day is not so important. We have around one third of residents who have needed to have their alternate decision maker sign for them and greatly appreciate the swift response of those of you who have had to do this.
The residents will be monitored for the usual vaccine side effects as we always do and the doctors have spoken to them about what to expect in the way of sore arms and aches and pains.
We have had a 100% uptake by residents which is fantastic.
When we have a date I will send a text to let you know.
Staff will not be done on the same day apparently and there is no word as yet on the staff rollout for aged care.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Updated: 17/02/2021
Well done again Victoria.
As of 11.59pm tonight – Wednesday 17th Feb 2021, Gorrinn Village is open for visitors again.
Until Friday 26th Feb, people from one household only can visit each resident a day.
That is not just 1 person a day nor is it only 1 visit per day.
Residents can have multiple visits per day but only from people who live in the same house.
In order to keep track we are asking you to make appointments as you used to do.
Residents are free to go out whenever and wherever they like with no restrictions other than those that apply to all Victorians.
Well done again Victoria.
As of 11.59pm tonight – Wednesday 17th Feb 2021, Gorrinn Village is open for visitors again.
Until Friday 26th Feb, people from one household only can visit each resident a day.
That is not just 1 person a day nor is it only 1 visit per day.
Residents can have multiple visits per day but only from people who live in the same house.
In order to keep track we are asking you to make appointments as you used to do.
Residents are free to go out whenever and wherever they like with no restrictions other than those that apply to all Victorians.
Website update 12th February
Victorian Department of Health and Human Services
I am sorry to have to inform you that as of 11.59pm tonight, Friday 12th February 2021, until 11.59 pm Wednesday 17th February 2021 no visitors are permitted in the facility nor are residents permitted to leave the facility except for essential medical care.
Unfortunately it appears that it is the more highly contagious strain of Covid 19 that is implicated in this outbreak so this 5 day sharp lockdown is to prevent any further spread of the outbreak in Melbourne and hopefully enable us to avoid a longer period of stricter restrictions.
I am meeting with the residents this afternoon to inform them.
If you had planned to visit a Gorrinn Village resident over the next 5 days or take them out I am sorry but that is no longer possible. Short, sharp lockdowns have worked in other capital sites in Australia so there is no reason to believe that it won’t work for us either.
The sooner we all get vaccinated the better. All of you stay home and stay safe.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Victorian Department of Health and Human Services
I am sorry to have to inform you that as of 11.59pm tonight, Friday 12th February 2021, until 11.59 pm Wednesday 17th February 2021 no visitors are permitted in the facility nor are residents permitted to leave the facility except for essential medical care.
Unfortunately it appears that it is the more highly contagious strain of Covid 19 that is implicated in this outbreak so this 5 day sharp lockdown is to prevent any further spread of the outbreak in Melbourne and hopefully enable us to avoid a longer period of stricter restrictions.
I am meeting with the residents this afternoon to inform them.
If you had planned to visit a Gorrinn Village resident over the next 5 days or take them out I am sorry but that is no longer possible. Short, sharp lockdowns have worked in other capital sites in Australia so there is no reason to believe that it won’t work for us either.
The sooner we all get vaccinated the better. All of you stay home and stay safe.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Website Update Monday 18th January 2021.
Current restrictions are;
Visitors from NSW and people who have attended public exposure sites in Melbourne as listed on the DHHS website should contact the facility prior to visiting and may be excluded depending on their situation.
As of this afternoon there are no longer any restrictions on the number, frequency or duration of visits to the residents.
The visit still takes place either in the resident’s room or a courtyard or garden area but not in the main indoor communal areas due to density limits.
The mask and written declaration remain in force.
There are no limit on outings. Residents can go out whenever and wherever they like.
Current restrictions are;
Visitors from NSW and people who have attended public exposure sites in Melbourne as listed on the DHHS website should contact the facility prior to visiting and may be excluded depending on their situation.
As of this afternoon there are no longer any restrictions on the number, frequency or duration of visits to the residents.
The visit still takes place either in the resident’s room or a courtyard or garden area but not in the main indoor communal areas due to density limits.
The mask and written declaration remain in force.
There are no limit on outings. Residents can go out whenever and wherever they like.
Website Update 5/1/21
While this latest outbreak is occurring the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services has issued enhanced VISITING RESTRICTIONS for residential care facilities statewide.
Visiting is now restricted to partner, carer or support person only.
The visit must be for the purpose of providing emotional, cultural, spiritual or social support.
The support must be unable to be provided by electronic or non contact means.
Visits are limited to one person, once a day for a maximum of 2 hours.
End of life care is restricted to 2 persons at a time with no time limit. (This does not include residents of NSW who require a permit even for end of life situations)
Excluded entirely.
-returned travellers in last 14 days.
- residents of NSW or returned visitors to NWS in last 14 days.
-persons required to isolate or quarantine in accordance with the Diagnosed Persons and Close Contact Directions.
- persons awaiting a test result.
- residents of Melbourne -14 days.
In addition visitors to Melbourne since 21st December who have visited a designated exposure site may not visit until they have been tested, quarantined while awaiting results and cleared.
This also applies to visitors to the regional exposure suites in Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale, Wonthaggi and Leongatha.
For Gorrinn Village this means that you will once again need to book visits via Reception on 53522654. We encourage everyone to use electronic means where possible.
Hopefully this will all be in place only for a short time.
Residents are being notified at a meeting this morning.
Staff who have visited exposure sites are required to be tested and quarantine until cleared.
While this latest outbreak is occurring the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services has issued enhanced VISITING RESTRICTIONS for residential care facilities statewide.
Visiting is now restricted to partner, carer or support person only.
The visit must be for the purpose of providing emotional, cultural, spiritual or social support.
The support must be unable to be provided by electronic or non contact means.
Visits are limited to one person, once a day for a maximum of 2 hours.
End of life care is restricted to 2 persons at a time with no time limit. (This does not include residents of NSW who require a permit even for end of life situations)
Excluded entirely.
-returned travellers in last 14 days.
- residents of NSW or returned visitors to NWS in last 14 days.
-persons required to isolate or quarantine in accordance with the Diagnosed Persons and Close Contact Directions.
- persons awaiting a test result.
- residents of Melbourne -14 days.
In addition visitors to Melbourne since 21st December who have visited a designated exposure site may not visit until they have been tested, quarantined while awaiting results and cleared.
This also applies to visitors to the regional exposure suites in Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale, Wonthaggi and Leongatha.
For Gorrinn Village this means that you will once again need to book visits via Reception on 53522654. We encourage everyone to use electronic means where possible.
Hopefully this will all be in place only for a short time.
Residents are being notified at a meeting this morning.
Staff who have visited exposure sites are required to be tested and quarantine until cleared.
Website Update January 4th 2021
From the 4/1/21 no visitor is permitted who:
- Resides in Melbourne
- Has visited Melbourne in the last 14 Days
- Has been visited by someone from Melbourne in the last 14 days
- Has been in NSW in the last 14 days
We are sorry for the inconvenience but until the current Victorian situation resolves we must be very cautious.
From the 4/1/21 no visitor is permitted who:
- Resides in Melbourne
- Has visited Melbourne in the last 14 Days
- Has been visited by someone from Melbourne in the last 14 days
- Has been in NSW in the last 14 days
We are sorry for the inconvenience but until the current Victorian situation resolves we must be very cautious.
Website Update December 31st.
We have made it to the end of 2020 with no Covid outbreaks and happy residents thanks to the Victorian situation.
Although you wouldn’t wish NSW to have the problems that they have, in some ways it has been a good lesson for Victoria.
I think there was a risk of us thinking it was all over and the small number of cases now in Victoria as well shows just how quickly things can change with this virus. Let us hope it stops here. We strongly advise you all to wear masks indoors wherever you are.
With a number of vaccines on the way to being approved, 2021 is looking a lot better than we could have imagined back in March. Currently the residents are enjoying the lack of restrictions on visitors and outings and they had a great Christmas.
Staff and visitors still need to wear masks indoors and complete a declaration prior to entry but that is all. We hope to have the automatic temperature device up and running soon so as to free up Reception staff from the endless trek backwards and forwards to the front door. Staff are currently undergoing monthly Covid tests -all negative of course. This is expected to continue for 6 months -or possibly until we are all vaccinated. I expect that like the Influenza vaccine (until Vic had to cancel the requirement during the July outbreak) it will be mandatory for aged care staff.
I hope you all had a great Christmas and have a good new year.
Thanks for all the kind words on our survey also. We had more responses than usual which was good. See you all on the other side of 2020.
Last updated: 24/11/2020
As we head for elimination in Victoria we have a number of changes that came into effect at midnight on the 22nd for residents in residential aged care. Care Facility Directions (No 17) and Workplace (Additional Industry Obligations) Directions (No 13) are now in effect.
There have also been changes to the Visiting Care Facilities page at the Department which cancels the Care Facilities Directions altogether.
As of today, there are no longer any restrictions on who can visit, how often residents can have visitors or how long visitors can stay.
In other words, anyone can visit, residents can have visitors as often as they like and visitors can stay as long as they like.
This joins the changes around outings that came into effect last week with residents being able to leave the facility freely as long as they adhere to the same conditions as all Victorians are subject to.
Residents still need to wear masks when inside a public building such as a shop etc but not outside when they can socially distance. If they cannot socially distance, such as at a market, then they need to wear a mask as we all do.
What has not changed is that visitors need to wear a mask inside the facility – especially when encountering a staff member or another resident - however there is some flexibility when alone in the resident’s room with the resident you are visiting.
The declaration and screening at the door are still required and the declaration now requires a phone number, arrival time and departure time.
There are no density quotients for visits in resident’s rooms now so multiple visitors can be in their room.
There are still density quotients for communal areas so visits need to take place either in the resident’s room, the Ivy sun room or the gardens.
Appointments no longer need to be made.
We have reinstated most of our volunteers now and will add live entertainment this week.
The pre-Christmas functions are being looked at and some are already OK to go ahead with others depending on the next change due on the 30th November. At this stage I anticipate Christmas Day lunch will proceed as normal in the Community Centre. Further information on that will come later.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank you all for your understanding and patience over the last 9 months. It has made everything we have had to do so much easier. I feel very sorry for businesses and industries who have been given a hard time both by the virus and then by their customers as well. It must have been horrendous. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have been very tolerant of the badly behaved and would probably have ended up on the nightly news as an awful warning!
Please check out the November Newsletter which will be published on this website with a link sent out to Relatives to access soon.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
As we head for elimination in Victoria we have a number of changes that came into effect at midnight on the 22nd for residents in residential aged care. Care Facility Directions (No 17) and Workplace (Additional Industry Obligations) Directions (No 13) are now in effect.
There have also been changes to the Visiting Care Facilities page at the Department which cancels the Care Facilities Directions altogether.
As of today, there are no longer any restrictions on who can visit, how often residents can have visitors or how long visitors can stay.
In other words, anyone can visit, residents can have visitors as often as they like and visitors can stay as long as they like.
This joins the changes around outings that came into effect last week with residents being able to leave the facility freely as long as they adhere to the same conditions as all Victorians are subject to.
Residents still need to wear masks when inside a public building such as a shop etc but not outside when they can socially distance. If they cannot socially distance, such as at a market, then they need to wear a mask as we all do.
What has not changed is that visitors need to wear a mask inside the facility – especially when encountering a staff member or another resident - however there is some flexibility when alone in the resident’s room with the resident you are visiting.
The declaration and screening at the door are still required and the declaration now requires a phone number, arrival time and departure time.
There are no density quotients for visits in resident’s rooms now so multiple visitors can be in their room.
There are still density quotients for communal areas so visits need to take place either in the resident’s room, the Ivy sun room or the gardens.
Appointments no longer need to be made.
We have reinstated most of our volunteers now and will add live entertainment this week.
The pre-Christmas functions are being looked at and some are already OK to go ahead with others depending on the next change due on the 30th November. At this stage I anticipate Christmas Day lunch will proceed as normal in the Community Centre. Further information on that will come later.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank you all for your understanding and patience over the last 9 months. It has made everything we have had to do so much easier. I feel very sorry for businesses and industries who have been given a hard time both by the virus and then by their customers as well. It must have been horrendous. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have been very tolerant of the badly behaved and would probably have ended up on the nightly news as an awful warning!
Please check out the November Newsletter which will be published on this website with a link sent out to Relatives to access soon.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Last Updated: 16/11/2020
While we are still on Care Facilities Direction Number 16, there was an update issued over the weekend that relates to residents leaving the facility.
Residents may now leave the facility for any reason – including social - provided they comply with the same restrictions which are applicable to all Victorians.
This also means that rather than just drives without leaving the Village bus, the Lifestyle staff will be starting to take residents out for lunch and other excursions again soon.
There are some procedures around those which will need to be put into place before we start – cleaning the bus, hand hygiene on the bus, temperature screening on return, for example.
There are no changes to the onsite visiting, which is essentially normal for most residents as very, very few would have more than one visitor a day normally unless there was a special reason.
Now that Melbourne people can visit there are no residents who are unable to have regular visitors.
It has only been residents with relatives in Melbourne exclusively who have not been able to have visitors for many weeks now and the Lifestyle staff made sure to give them priority drives and extra attention.
Residents can still have only one visit per day for a total of 2 hours either of one person at a time OR more than 1 person at a time from the same household.
This means if they have a single visitor in the morning, they cannot have a different visitor or group of visitors in the afternoon.
If it is one person, the visit is in the resident’s room.
If it is more than one person, the visit is in the Ivy Wing visitor’s room or the adjacent garden because of the density limits of 1 person per 4 square metres.
The 1.5 metre distance and the wearing of masks by visitors over 12 years still apply, even in the garden.
While the one visit per day limit is in place, appointments still need to be made so we can keep track – especially when using the Ivy Wing visiting room as we have to clean it after each group uses it.
I expect there may be some further changes after the 22nd of November once they see whether 14 days of Melbourne people heading into regional Vic does to the case numbers. Hopefully nothing.
I will be letting the residents know about the changes to going out – they will be thrilled, as they have greatly missed having trips out. The drives with staff, family and home visits to local families have been great, but nothing beats eating out and shopping!
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
While we are still on Care Facilities Direction Number 16, there was an update issued over the weekend that relates to residents leaving the facility.
Residents may now leave the facility for any reason – including social - provided they comply with the same restrictions which are applicable to all Victorians.
- This means they must wear a face mask unless they have an exemption.
- They must keep 1.5 metres away from other members of the general public (not the person escorting them).
- They must adhere to the private and public gathering limits (10 persons, outdoors)
- They must not knowingly mix with persons who are unwell, or in isolation or quarantine.
- They must abide by the directions which apply to all Victorians when they leave their home.
This also means that rather than just drives without leaving the Village bus, the Lifestyle staff will be starting to take residents out for lunch and other excursions again soon.
There are some procedures around those which will need to be put into place before we start – cleaning the bus, hand hygiene on the bus, temperature screening on return, for example.
There are no changes to the onsite visiting, which is essentially normal for most residents as very, very few would have more than one visitor a day normally unless there was a special reason.
Now that Melbourne people can visit there are no residents who are unable to have regular visitors.
It has only been residents with relatives in Melbourne exclusively who have not been able to have visitors for many weeks now and the Lifestyle staff made sure to give them priority drives and extra attention.
Residents can still have only one visit per day for a total of 2 hours either of one person at a time OR more than 1 person at a time from the same household.
This means if they have a single visitor in the morning, they cannot have a different visitor or group of visitors in the afternoon.
If it is one person, the visit is in the resident’s room.
If it is more than one person, the visit is in the Ivy Wing visitor’s room or the adjacent garden because of the density limits of 1 person per 4 square metres.
The 1.5 metre distance and the wearing of masks by visitors over 12 years still apply, even in the garden.
While the one visit per day limit is in place, appointments still need to be made so we can keep track – especially when using the Ivy Wing visiting room as we have to clean it after each group uses it.
I expect there may be some further changes after the 22nd of November once they see whether 14 days of Melbourne people heading into regional Vic does to the case numbers. Hopefully nothing.
I will be letting the residents know about the changes to going out – they will be thrilled, as they have greatly missed having trips out. The drives with staff, family and home visits to local families have been great, but nothing beats eating out and shopping!
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Last Updated: 09/11/2020
Isn’t Victoria doing well! Ten days of zero cases and Melbourne can come out to play again.
We have Care Facilities Direction Number 16 this morning from the Dept of Health and Human Services.
The only change is that Melbourne people now have the same visiting setup as us and can visit in regional Vic.
For the regions nothing alters so just to refresh your memories.
Residents can have one visit per day each either from 1 person of from a group of people who all live in the same house. Here, that means single visits take place in the resident’s room and a group visit takes place in the Ivy sunroom or the adjacent garden due to the density quotient that we have to abide by.
Visits are still limited to 2 hours.
Appointments still need to be made so that we can keep track of the number of visits per day each resident has.
Masks still need to be worn inside the facility, as they do for outside your home and for staff at work, and the declaration form is still required by the Department for both staff and visitors. In addition, once it is set up, visitors will need to wear the contact recording badge while visiting.
As the badge can only respond to another badge they only work inside the facility.
We are still happy for residents to substitute one onsite visit per week for a drive with a family member or a visit to a family member’s private home. As this last item is a Gorrinn Village initiative I must urge you to abide by the conditions we set for that arrangement.
The residents have greatly enjoyed the more frequent visits by family from within regional Vic and are looking forward to seeing family from Melbourne. While most residents have been able to have daily visitors for weeks – and less frequently all along - this latest change means that there are now no residents who are not able to have regular visitors which is great.
There are, after all, almost no residents who would have multiple visitors a day except on special occasions so the daily visit is essentially normal frequency for most.
We are allowing the volunteers who assist the Lifestyle and kitchen staff back this week as well but not live entertainers yet.
The next review by the Department is due on November 22nd, presumably after they see what 2 weeks post easing of Melbourne restrictions brings.
The next step then will hopefully be that residents can have public outings to shops, cafes etc.
While we have continued our drives throughout the last 6 months, it is the going out for lunch and trips to the shops with staff or family that residents have said they are starting to really miss, especially with Christmas not too far away.
Lastly, while this update was specifically started for Covid, we will probably post our twice yearly Newsletter on the website as well.
That will be later this month. Also the Care Reports are due which we will email to as many of our representatives as we can. If you aren’t sure if we have your email on file give Reception a ring to check.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Isn’t Victoria doing well! Ten days of zero cases and Melbourne can come out to play again.
We have Care Facilities Direction Number 16 this morning from the Dept of Health and Human Services.
The only change is that Melbourne people now have the same visiting setup as us and can visit in regional Vic.
For the regions nothing alters so just to refresh your memories.
Residents can have one visit per day each either from 1 person of from a group of people who all live in the same house. Here, that means single visits take place in the resident’s room and a group visit takes place in the Ivy sunroom or the adjacent garden due to the density quotient that we have to abide by.
Visits are still limited to 2 hours.
Appointments still need to be made so that we can keep track of the number of visits per day each resident has.
Masks still need to be worn inside the facility, as they do for outside your home and for staff at work, and the declaration form is still required by the Department for both staff and visitors. In addition, once it is set up, visitors will need to wear the contact recording badge while visiting.
As the badge can only respond to another badge they only work inside the facility.
We are still happy for residents to substitute one onsite visit per week for a drive with a family member or a visit to a family member’s private home. As this last item is a Gorrinn Village initiative I must urge you to abide by the conditions we set for that arrangement.
The residents have greatly enjoyed the more frequent visits by family from within regional Vic and are looking forward to seeing family from Melbourne. While most residents have been able to have daily visitors for weeks – and less frequently all along - this latest change means that there are now no residents who are not able to have regular visitors which is great.
There are, after all, almost no residents who would have multiple visitors a day except on special occasions so the daily visit is essentially normal frequency for most.
We are allowing the volunteers who assist the Lifestyle and kitchen staff back this week as well but not live entertainers yet.
The next review by the Department is due on November 22nd, presumably after they see what 2 weeks post easing of Melbourne restrictions brings.
The next step then will hopefully be that residents can have public outings to shops, cafes etc.
While we have continued our drives throughout the last 6 months, it is the going out for lunch and trips to the shops with staff or family that residents have said they are starting to really miss, especially with Christmas not too far away.
Lastly, while this update was specifically started for Covid, we will probably post our twice yearly Newsletter on the website as well.
That will be later this month. Also the Care Reports are due which we will email to as many of our representatives as we can. If you aren’t sure if we have your email on file give Reception a ring to check.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Updated: 30/10/20
Well done Melbourne, welcome back!
Residential aged care is now on Care Facilities Direction Number 15 with regard to visiting.
The only change from number 14 is that people who have returned to Australia in the last 14 days can visit for end of life care.
In case you missed the previous update here is a repeat.
Visiting is still restricted to spouse, partner, guardian, carer or support person for the purpose of providing essential physical, cultural or social support that is not able to be provided by electronic means.
Each resident can have one visit per day from either one person or a group of people who live in the same house.
A visit has a maximum time limit of 2 hours.
Single visits happen in the resident’s room.
If there is more than one visitor it takes place either in the new Ivy Wing room we created or out in the adjacent garden.
Once a week, people can substitute an onsite visit for a drive or visit to a family member’s home.
The same rules apply regardless of whether the visit is here or outside – the visitor (driver, host) must wear a mask at all times and the visit or drive is limited to 2 hours.
Appointments still need to be made especially if the visiting room is to be used but there is no limit on the number of residents who can have a visitor in their room at the same time. In other words 25 residents may be having a visit in their rooms at the same time and that would be fine.
There is one change as of last Wednesday.
All visitors must now complete a declaration form prior to entry – as do staff now as well.
Previously we asked people screening questions but the Department now requires the answers in writing and a declaration that the information is true and correct.
This form has quite a lot of questions which have to be answered about individual symptoms, an agreement to certain behaviour while in the facility and whether or not the person has been told to quarantine or isolate.
Staff will help you as needed. Temperature is still recorded as well.
The staff form is even longer as it has questions about working in other facilities and the wearing of personal protective equipment.
All forms have to be kept for 28 days before being discarded.
In other news:
The Department has decided that all residential aged care staff should be Covid tested regularly – for regional Vic that means monthly for 6 months.
We are waiting for a starting date. The pathology service responsible will do the testing here at the facility and while we were hoping for a saliva test it is still the old throat and nostril swab. Pathology tell me it has been modified to be less unpleasant – I guess we will see.
It is voluntary, however I will be strongly encouraging all staff to participate as I am hoping that being cleared may eliminate some of the restrictions or equipment we are currently having to wear.
In the last update I spoke about contact tracing. We have now had a zoom demonstration of the technology and this is how it will work.
It works by all staff wearing a little badge during working hours and residents as well. These badges talk to each other and record contact of closer than 2 metres in amounts of 2 minutes.
So - staff member D tests positive to Covid 19. We check their badge and discover that over the previous 48 hours she had 10 encounters (20 minutes total) with staff members X and Y but only 2 ( 4 minutes) with staff members K and L. So only staff members X and Y need to go into quarantine, the others don’t. If you were doing that by roster you may pick up the first 2 but no one is going to remember how long they spent with K and L and so they would be sent home to “just in case”.
The same applies to the residents. We could immediately see how long that staff member had spent with residents as well and although they would all automatically go into quarantine initially it would enable us to prevent the spread by identifying those at most risk. The same advantage exists if it is a resident who tests positive – only staff who had close contact with that resident need to be sent home.
The whole purpose is to keep as many regular Gorrinn staff available as possible and reduce the likelihood of needing to get a surge workforce of strangers in.
The data is encrypted for privacy and it cannot “track” someone the way your mobile phone can. It can only “talk” to another badge. We will get some extras for visitors which are both physically and digitally cleaned, after each use, and registered again for the next user.
After listening to the stories from other facilities who didn’t have it as well as those that do, I cannot wait to get this installed.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler
Updated: 19/10/20
Many changes for Victoria as of Sunday 18th October with more to come in the next week or so all being well due to the hard work, patience and not inconsiderable sacrifices of the Victorian people.
Our residents have asked me to thank all their families and the wider community for keeping them safe from this horrible disease. They have also expressed their gratitude to the staff of the Village for everything we have done as well.
They are relieved that they and their loved ones have weathered the last few months and are looking forward to a Covid normal Christmas as well as a vaccine to enable life to return to normal.
As of today at Gorrinn Village, we are now on Care Facilities Direction Number 14.
We are also now subject to Workplace (Additional Industry Obligations) Direction Number 9.
Please note masks are still required for all visitors in residential care facilities.
Social distancing is still required within residential care facilities.
Use of hand sanitizer before entering is still required in residential care facilities.
Starting Monday 19th the following changes apply.
1.Gowns will no longer be required for visitors unless they are coming in from Melbourne. (Gorrinn Requirement.) If you are visiting from Melbourne you will also need to satisfy the Metropolitan Melbourne criteria for travelling to regional Victoria.
2. Children under 16 are now permitted to visit.(Directive 14)
Starting Wednesday 21st October the following applies.
1. Residents may have visits at the same time from people who live in the same house.(Directive 14)
2. All visitors will be required to declare in writing at the start of each visit, and before they enter, whether the visitor: (Directive 14.)
a) is free of 2019 nCoV Symptoms as defined below and
b) has, in the preceding 14 days been in contact with a confirmed case and
c) is currently required to self-isolate or self-quarantine in accordance with the Diagnosed Persons and Close Contacts Directions(No12)
Definitions:
Covid 19 symptoms –
a) a fever greater or equal to 37.5 or consistent fever of less than 37.5 such as night sweats or chills.
b) cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, loss of smell, loss of taste
Diagnosed Persons and Close Contacts Direction (No 12)–
a) A person who has been informed that they have been diagnosed with Covid 19.
b) A person who has been informed that they are to self isolate as a diagnosed person or has been informed that they are to self quarantine as a close contact.
3. In addition, persons are excluded (Directive 14) if :
a) they have returned to Australia in the preceding 14 days
b) are awaiting test results for Covid 19
c) have had contact with a confirmed case
d) have had contact with someone who is waiting for test results (Gorrinn Requirement)
4. We will also still be asking about travel to Melbourne in the previous 14 days.(Gorrinn Requirement)
5. Visitors must still satisfy the visitor condition that the visit is to provide essential emotional, physical, cultural or social well being that cannot be reasonably provided by that person via electronic means. (Directive 14) and that the visitor is either a partner, guardian, carer or support person.
5. Visits of more than one person at a time will be in the Ivy Wing visiting room as the resident’s rooms are too small to satisfy the density quotient of 1 person for every 4 square metres if there are 3 people in the room. (Directive 14)
On nice days visits – regardless of numbers- could be out in the Ivy garden instead.
6. Visits are for a maximum of 2 hours.(Directive 14)
7. Only one visit per resident per day.(Directive 14)
8. Residents are able to go out for a drive with a family member OR to the house of a family member (within the conditions of the Regional Victoria Restrictions. (Gorrinn Decision)
Note: We will review whether residents can go out to public places such as shopping centres or restaurants on November 1st.
I will be meeting with the residents this afternoon to bring them up to date.
In other Covid news, one of the most time consuming aspects of the pandemic has been the screening process at the front door for staff and visitors. Reception and other staff make a lot of trips to the door with the thermometer and in the course of that are having to get fairly close, so given that screening will probably be with us for some time yet we are investing in an automatic temp sensor. This will enable Reception to complete all the screening prior to opening the door which better meets our Occupational Health and Safety obligations.
The other aspect which has been bothering us is contact tracing in the event of an outbreak. Having listened to the experiences of countless other facilities not only did they have to furlough up to 90% of their staff because it was almost impossible to exclude someone as a close contact, but the labour involved in checking rosters consumed an enormous amount of time.
Therefore, we are investing in a track and tracing system. The staff will wear a small lanyard throughout their shift which will record anywhere they spent longer than 15 minutes over the previous 48 hours which is the criteria for a close contact. In the event of a staff member or resident testing positive we will be able to quickly identify the people who are close contacts and need to quarantine. We can then avoid sending staff home who do not meet the criteria and reduce the loss of staff. The benefit of this is of course, less staff in quarantine means less outside staff needed and a better outcome all round. Other facilities are already using this system.
Non Covid News (yes, believe it or not there are other things happening)
We had a very different AGM last Friday via zoom. It was quite odd giving a speech to a crowd of residents and staff but only being able to see the other zoom participants – as well as hearing my own words repeated back to me a second or two after I said them as the main group was in an adjacent room with the volume at hearing impairment level.
The Annual Report was added to the website on Friday with one omission as we generally try to make it a surprise. This was the President’s Award for Outstanding Service. The recipient this year was Mathew Christion and since he was responsible for putting the Report together I couldn’t add this in without giving the game away. Mathew’s award was well deserved and as he was on zoom at Reception, watching his head whip round when he realized who I was talking about was very funny.
In November it will be Care Report time again and they will probably head your way in the 3rd week.
Many changes for Victoria as of Sunday 18th October with more to come in the next week or so all being well due to the hard work, patience and not inconsiderable sacrifices of the Victorian people.
Our residents have asked me to thank all their families and the wider community for keeping them safe from this horrible disease. They have also expressed their gratitude to the staff of the Village for everything we have done as well.
They are relieved that they and their loved ones have weathered the last few months and are looking forward to a Covid normal Christmas as well as a vaccine to enable life to return to normal.
As of today at Gorrinn Village, we are now on Care Facilities Direction Number 14.
We are also now subject to Workplace (Additional Industry Obligations) Direction Number 9.
Please note masks are still required for all visitors in residential care facilities.
Social distancing is still required within residential care facilities.
Use of hand sanitizer before entering is still required in residential care facilities.
Starting Monday 19th the following changes apply.
1.Gowns will no longer be required for visitors unless they are coming in from Melbourne. (Gorrinn Requirement.) If you are visiting from Melbourne you will also need to satisfy the Metropolitan Melbourne criteria for travelling to regional Victoria.
2. Children under 16 are now permitted to visit.(Directive 14)
Starting Wednesday 21st October the following applies.
1. Residents may have visits at the same time from people who live in the same house.(Directive 14)
2. All visitors will be required to declare in writing at the start of each visit, and before they enter, whether the visitor: (Directive 14.)
a) is free of 2019 nCoV Symptoms as defined below and
b) has, in the preceding 14 days been in contact with a confirmed case and
c) is currently required to self-isolate or self-quarantine in accordance with the Diagnosed Persons and Close Contacts Directions(No12)
Definitions:
Covid 19 symptoms –
a) a fever greater or equal to 37.5 or consistent fever of less than 37.5 such as night sweats or chills.
b) cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, loss of smell, loss of taste
Diagnosed Persons and Close Contacts Direction (No 12)–
a) A person who has been informed that they have been diagnosed with Covid 19.
b) A person who has been informed that they are to self isolate as a diagnosed person or has been informed that they are to self quarantine as a close contact.
3. In addition, persons are excluded (Directive 14) if :
a) they have returned to Australia in the preceding 14 days
b) are awaiting test results for Covid 19
c) have had contact with a confirmed case
d) have had contact with someone who is waiting for test results (Gorrinn Requirement)
4. We will also still be asking about travel to Melbourne in the previous 14 days.(Gorrinn Requirement)
5. Visitors must still satisfy the visitor condition that the visit is to provide essential emotional, physical, cultural or social well being that cannot be reasonably provided by that person via electronic means. (Directive 14) and that the visitor is either a partner, guardian, carer or support person.
5. Visits of more than one person at a time will be in the Ivy Wing visiting room as the resident’s rooms are too small to satisfy the density quotient of 1 person for every 4 square metres if there are 3 people in the room. (Directive 14)
On nice days visits – regardless of numbers- could be out in the Ivy garden instead.
6. Visits are for a maximum of 2 hours.(Directive 14)
7. Only one visit per resident per day.(Directive 14)
8. Residents are able to go out for a drive with a family member OR to the house of a family member (within the conditions of the Regional Victoria Restrictions. (Gorrinn Decision)
Note: We will review whether residents can go out to public places such as shopping centres or restaurants on November 1st.
I will be meeting with the residents this afternoon to bring them up to date.
In other Covid news, one of the most time consuming aspects of the pandemic has been the screening process at the front door for staff and visitors. Reception and other staff make a lot of trips to the door with the thermometer and in the course of that are having to get fairly close, so given that screening will probably be with us for some time yet we are investing in an automatic temp sensor. This will enable Reception to complete all the screening prior to opening the door which better meets our Occupational Health and Safety obligations.
The other aspect which has been bothering us is contact tracing in the event of an outbreak. Having listened to the experiences of countless other facilities not only did they have to furlough up to 90% of their staff because it was almost impossible to exclude someone as a close contact, but the labour involved in checking rosters consumed an enormous amount of time.
Therefore, we are investing in a track and tracing system. The staff will wear a small lanyard throughout their shift which will record anywhere they spent longer than 15 minutes over the previous 48 hours which is the criteria for a close contact. In the event of a staff member or resident testing positive we will be able to quickly identify the people who are close contacts and need to quarantine. We can then avoid sending staff home who do not meet the criteria and reduce the loss of staff. The benefit of this is of course, less staff in quarantine means less outside staff needed and a better outcome all round. Other facilities are already using this system.
Non Covid News (yes, believe it or not there are other things happening)
We had a very different AGM last Friday via zoom. It was quite odd giving a speech to a crowd of residents and staff but only being able to see the other zoom participants – as well as hearing my own words repeated back to me a second or two after I said them as the main group was in an adjacent room with the volume at hearing impairment level.
The Annual Report was added to the website on Friday with one omission as we generally try to make it a surprise. This was the President’s Award for Outstanding Service. The recipient this year was Mathew Christion and since he was responsible for putting the Report together I couldn’t add this in without giving the game away. Mathew’s award was well deserved and as he was on zoom at Reception, watching his head whip round when he realized who I was talking about was very funny.
In November it will be Care Report time again and they will probably head your way in the 3rd week.
Last Updated: 02/10/2020
Well done Melbourne! Great to see the numbers dropping and the lifting of some of the restrictions. It looks like Melbourne will join the regions at level 3 earlier than anticipated which is excellent.
There has been a minor change to the Department’s Care Facilities Direction. We are now up to Number 12, which has increased the duration of visits from 1 hour to 2 hours. All the other requirements remain unchanged.
At Gorrinn we are altering our own regime to reflect the low risk out here in Ararat.
Please see the end of this update for a summary of the changes.
Therefore, from Monday October 5th resident visits will increase to 3 visits a week per resident and visits will be held in the resident’s room instead of our visiting room.
This will depend on the individual circumstances of the visitor. In other words, where they reside, work or travel to, as well as the response to the screening process. We are doing this because most of our regular local visitors are extremely low risk and the visiting room is struggling to meet the demand.
As per Direction 12, the maximum duration is 2 hours, only one person can visit at a time and face masks must still be worn and a 1.5 metre distance is supposed to be maintained. However, with visiting in rooms that would be almost impossible, so we propose that visitors wear a gown in addition to a mask. Not only will that protect the physical environment but has the very considerable advantage of enabling visitors to hug the resident without risk. The Department’s reasons for the visit remain the same in that it must be to provide care or support that cannot be provided by electronic means.
At the facility level, you will still need to phone in advance, so we know who is visiting and when.
The latest a visit can commence will be 5pm and it must be booked before Reception closes at 5pm. The visitor will be escorted to the room by staff, all screening questions must be answered, temperature recorded and the visitor must not leave the resident’s room during the visit. At the end of the visit – or 2 hours- whichever is sooner, a staff member will escort the visitor out after they use the resident’s call bell to alert them. This is to ensure that visitors have no contact with any other resident, as that remains a Dept. requirement.
The other change we are considering is allowing one family member to take a resident either out for a drive or to that family member’s home for a short visit if they live locally and there is no one else at the home. This will be based on an individual risk assessment. If you are interested in that option you just need to contact me to discuss the proposal.
In other news we had a visit from the Australian Defense Force last week to look at our outbreak plans and related subjects. This was very useful and we picked up some great ideas, as well as being able to clarify some things that despite all the reading over the last few months, were still not as clear as they could be.
This visit is only one of many we expect to receive from a variety of agencies in the not too distant future.
There is some talk about a rapid test being introduced that would allow us to screen staff and possibly residents regularly which would be very reassuring so I hope it eventuates.
We are not having a physical annual general meeting this year, but our Annual Report will be available on this website on Friday 16th October and I urge you all to read it and see what the Village has accomplished over the last 12 months.
The residents are greatly enjoying their increased visits and the success of the state’s suppression measure, although unpleasant for many in the community, these are making them feel more relaxed and optimistic for a Covid normal Christmas. They regard themselves as very fortunate compared to so many of the residents in care who lost their lives to this dreadful disease.
I would like to thank all of you who contact me to express your appreciation of our efforts and of these updates – it is great to hear.
VISITING SUMMARY
Department of Health and Human Services Care Facility Direction Num 12
Visits by spouse, partner, parent, guardian, carer or support person to provide physical, social or emotional support which cannot be provided by electronic means.
One visitor at a time per resident once a day
Duration of visit 2 hours
Face mask to be worn
1.5 metre physical distance
No contact with any other resident or staff member
Visit to take place in designated room or resident’s room as the facility chooses.
All infection control and screening by facility to be adhered to
Excluded persons – returned travelers in last 14 days, contact with a Covid positive person, contact with a person waiting for a test result, waiting for a test result yourself, children under 16 except for end of life situations, having any of the screening symptoms or a temperature over 37.5 degrees, refusal to follow facility instructions.
Gorrinn Village - from Monday 5th October
3 visits per resident per week
Visits available 7 days a week
Visits in resident’s room only
Gown to be worn as well as mask to enable physical contact
Escorted in and out by staff who will assist with putting on and removing gowns
(The gown is worn to protect the resident so the inside of the gown will be considered the contaminated side rather than the outside as is the case when protection is for the wearer)
Must stay in room for whole visit
Use resident’s call bell to summon staff when visit finishes.
Visiting from 8.30am.
Last visit 5pm.
Visits still need to be booked with Reception
Screening questions and temperature checks at door
Future Possibilities
May be able to extend visiting times up to 8pm after review of rosters next week.
Outing with a family member may commence in the next week.
As usual if you have any questions feel free to contact me.
Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Well done Melbourne! Great to see the numbers dropping and the lifting of some of the restrictions. It looks like Melbourne will join the regions at level 3 earlier than anticipated which is excellent.
There has been a minor change to the Department’s Care Facilities Direction. We are now up to Number 12, which has increased the duration of visits from 1 hour to 2 hours. All the other requirements remain unchanged.
At Gorrinn we are altering our own regime to reflect the low risk out here in Ararat.
Please see the end of this update for a summary of the changes.
Therefore, from Monday October 5th resident visits will increase to 3 visits a week per resident and visits will be held in the resident’s room instead of our visiting room.
This will depend on the individual circumstances of the visitor. In other words, where they reside, work or travel to, as well as the response to the screening process. We are doing this because most of our regular local visitors are extremely low risk and the visiting room is struggling to meet the demand.
As per Direction 12, the maximum duration is 2 hours, only one person can visit at a time and face masks must still be worn and a 1.5 metre distance is supposed to be maintained. However, with visiting in rooms that would be almost impossible, so we propose that visitors wear a gown in addition to a mask. Not only will that protect the physical environment but has the very considerable advantage of enabling visitors to hug the resident without risk. The Department’s reasons for the visit remain the same in that it must be to provide care or support that cannot be provided by electronic means.
At the facility level, you will still need to phone in advance, so we know who is visiting and when.
The latest a visit can commence will be 5pm and it must be booked before Reception closes at 5pm. The visitor will be escorted to the room by staff, all screening questions must be answered, temperature recorded and the visitor must not leave the resident’s room during the visit. At the end of the visit – or 2 hours- whichever is sooner, a staff member will escort the visitor out after they use the resident’s call bell to alert them. This is to ensure that visitors have no contact with any other resident, as that remains a Dept. requirement.
The other change we are considering is allowing one family member to take a resident either out for a drive or to that family member’s home for a short visit if they live locally and there is no one else at the home. This will be based on an individual risk assessment. If you are interested in that option you just need to contact me to discuss the proposal.
In other news we had a visit from the Australian Defense Force last week to look at our outbreak plans and related subjects. This was very useful and we picked up some great ideas, as well as being able to clarify some things that despite all the reading over the last few months, were still not as clear as they could be.
This visit is only one of many we expect to receive from a variety of agencies in the not too distant future.
There is some talk about a rapid test being introduced that would allow us to screen staff and possibly residents regularly which would be very reassuring so I hope it eventuates.
We are not having a physical annual general meeting this year, but our Annual Report will be available on this website on Friday 16th October and I urge you all to read it and see what the Village has accomplished over the last 12 months.
The residents are greatly enjoying their increased visits and the success of the state’s suppression measure, although unpleasant for many in the community, these are making them feel more relaxed and optimistic for a Covid normal Christmas. They regard themselves as very fortunate compared to so many of the residents in care who lost their lives to this dreadful disease.
I would like to thank all of you who contact me to express your appreciation of our efforts and of these updates – it is great to hear.
VISITING SUMMARY
Department of Health and Human Services Care Facility Direction Num 12
Visits by spouse, partner, parent, guardian, carer or support person to provide physical, social or emotional support which cannot be provided by electronic means.
One visitor at a time per resident once a day
Duration of visit 2 hours
Face mask to be worn
1.5 metre physical distance
No contact with any other resident or staff member
Visit to take place in designated room or resident’s room as the facility chooses.
All infection control and screening by facility to be adhered to
Excluded persons – returned travelers in last 14 days, contact with a Covid positive person, contact with a person waiting for a test result, waiting for a test result yourself, children under 16 except for end of life situations, having any of the screening symptoms or a temperature over 37.5 degrees, refusal to follow facility instructions.
Gorrinn Village - from Monday 5th October
3 visits per resident per week
Visits available 7 days a week
Visits in resident’s room only
Gown to be worn as well as mask to enable physical contact
Escorted in and out by staff who will assist with putting on and removing gowns
(The gown is worn to protect the resident so the inside of the gown will be considered the contaminated side rather than the outside as is the case when protection is for the wearer)
Must stay in room for whole visit
Use resident’s call bell to summon staff when visit finishes.
Visiting from 8.30am.
Last visit 5pm.
Visits still need to be booked with Reception
Screening questions and temperature checks at door
Future Possibilities
May be able to extend visiting times up to 8pm after review of rosters next week.
Outing with a family member may commence in the next week.
As usual if you have any questions feel free to contact me.
Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Update 17/9/20
Well done Victoria!
Care Facilities Direction Number 11 came into effect at midnight Sunday 13th and runs until midnight on October 11th. The Department may change visiting restrictions for regional aged care facilities at some stage but have not done so yet.
Care Facilities Direction Numb 11 still allows only 1 person at a time for 1 hour per visit and masks must be worn throughout the visit as before. The same people who were excluded from visiting before are still excluded- under 16, returned travelers etc.
We, however, are able to make some changes to our in house restrictions.
Therefore, from Saturday 19th September we are increasing visits from once a week to twice a week per resident and Saturdays are available for appointments again.
All of our other conditions such as screening questions and using the visiting room still apply.
We will review these again on September 30th.
We continue to hold regular meetings with residents about the local and state Covid situation and it is interesting to hear their views. They all seem pretty happy with the facility response. Even though they would like to actually get out of the bus on their drives, they would prefer to have the job completed rather than yo yo back and forth. Their views on the protesters, especially those who chose to do so at the shrine, would have made my hair curl if it wasn’t already. They are also pretty definite that while most of them don’t have a problem with dying as such, they do have a problem with the assumption that because they are in a nursing home they have one foot in the grave and don’t have much to lose - as one resident said was being suggested in the media.
In other Covid news it was great to see the QLD Chief Medical Officer talking this week about how it is not primarily a respiratory virus, but affects all parts of the body. We actually mentioned that in one of our updates earlier in the year when the virus was fairly new. I just wish all the CHOs would talk about it because I think one of the problems people have with the restrictions is that they think that it is like a flu – which it is definitely not. Not to bore you with figures, but the super computer in Tennessee has analysed 25 million genetic combinations of 17,000 samples of C19 and revealed a theory on why it impacts the body the way it does.
The short version of this is that while the virus enters via the respiratory system by attaching itself to specific receptors there, it then spreads to other areas that have those receptors such as kidneys and heart. It then tricks the body into creating more receptors in places that normally don’t have a lot- such as the lungs, intestines and brain and starts affecting them. This, along with the fact that it makes blood vessels “leaky” would seem to explain the wide variety of symptoms that patients get that a purely respiratory virus would not produce, such as stroke, seizures, diarrhoea and the “covid toes”.
Also, if you do like numbers, in 2019, there were 121 deaths in aged care facilities in Vic as a result of influenza complications up to Sept that year. Covid 19 has caused 580 deaths in aged care in the same time. That 580 were out of 1,967 cases which is roughly a 20% fatality rate. But as the QLD CHO said, this isn’t just about dying, you do not want to get this virus at all.
All staff are now wearing eye protection at work. The disposable shields provided by the Commonwealth are – shall we say, suboptimal - so we have purchased reusable glasses for every staff member that also fit over spectacles.
I thought you might be interested to see what our Isolation Unit looks like – not that we ever want to need it. While it is a big room and there is a second similar space beyond the green concertina doors that could be used, it isn’t quite as barn like as it appears in the photo.
The other topic getting media time is about how facilities spend the funds that they get from the Commonwealth and residents. Not sure where they get the idea we are not accountable for it. Barb spends an enormous amount of time each year having our finances audited to the last cent and uploading reams of prudential information to the Dept. In July each year the two of us look at what we spent on absolutely everything, from fruit juice to hairdressing supplies and comparing it to what we had budgeted for that item. Sometimes we are spot on with our estimates, sometimes we spend a lot more and very occasionally an area cost less than we thought it would. As an example, we budgeted $46,430 for meat and fish in 2019-2020. We spent $48,000 so the 20-21 budget has been increased, as obviously meat is going to be more expensive. We budgeted $28,000 for dairy and spent $31,890. Bruce says butter went up $50 an order at one stage and an order lasts about a fortnight. On the other hand we allowed $63,000 for electricity based on what we spent the year before but it only cost $58,941 last year. As usual the continence budget is leaking (an oldie but a goody)- so it goes up every year as do wages as staff get an annual pay rise. A summary of what we spend in each area is in our Annual Report.
As a rough guide, the Aged Care Funding Instrument subsidies, which are based on what care a resident needs, pays for the staff wages to provide that care. The daily care fee that residents pay goes towards the items we need to provide that care such as continence pads, and the accommodation payment from the resident or supplement from the Dept pays for what they call hotel services like power and laundry.
As usual if you have any questions feel free to contact me.
Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Well done Victoria!
Care Facilities Direction Number 11 came into effect at midnight Sunday 13th and runs until midnight on October 11th. The Department may change visiting restrictions for regional aged care facilities at some stage but have not done so yet.
Care Facilities Direction Numb 11 still allows only 1 person at a time for 1 hour per visit and masks must be worn throughout the visit as before. The same people who were excluded from visiting before are still excluded- under 16, returned travelers etc.
We, however, are able to make some changes to our in house restrictions.
Therefore, from Saturday 19th September we are increasing visits from once a week to twice a week per resident and Saturdays are available for appointments again.
All of our other conditions such as screening questions and using the visiting room still apply.
We will review these again on September 30th.
We continue to hold regular meetings with residents about the local and state Covid situation and it is interesting to hear their views. They all seem pretty happy with the facility response. Even though they would like to actually get out of the bus on their drives, they would prefer to have the job completed rather than yo yo back and forth. Their views on the protesters, especially those who chose to do so at the shrine, would have made my hair curl if it wasn’t already. They are also pretty definite that while most of them don’t have a problem with dying as such, they do have a problem with the assumption that because they are in a nursing home they have one foot in the grave and don’t have much to lose - as one resident said was being suggested in the media.
In other Covid news it was great to see the QLD Chief Medical Officer talking this week about how it is not primarily a respiratory virus, but affects all parts of the body. We actually mentioned that in one of our updates earlier in the year when the virus was fairly new. I just wish all the CHOs would talk about it because I think one of the problems people have with the restrictions is that they think that it is like a flu – which it is definitely not. Not to bore you with figures, but the super computer in Tennessee has analysed 25 million genetic combinations of 17,000 samples of C19 and revealed a theory on why it impacts the body the way it does.
The short version of this is that while the virus enters via the respiratory system by attaching itself to specific receptors there, it then spreads to other areas that have those receptors such as kidneys and heart. It then tricks the body into creating more receptors in places that normally don’t have a lot- such as the lungs, intestines and brain and starts affecting them. This, along with the fact that it makes blood vessels “leaky” would seem to explain the wide variety of symptoms that patients get that a purely respiratory virus would not produce, such as stroke, seizures, diarrhoea and the “covid toes”.
Also, if you do like numbers, in 2019, there were 121 deaths in aged care facilities in Vic as a result of influenza complications up to Sept that year. Covid 19 has caused 580 deaths in aged care in the same time. That 580 were out of 1,967 cases which is roughly a 20% fatality rate. But as the QLD CHO said, this isn’t just about dying, you do not want to get this virus at all.
All staff are now wearing eye protection at work. The disposable shields provided by the Commonwealth are – shall we say, suboptimal - so we have purchased reusable glasses for every staff member that also fit over spectacles.
I thought you might be interested to see what our Isolation Unit looks like – not that we ever want to need it. While it is a big room and there is a second similar space beyond the green concertina doors that could be used, it isn’t quite as barn like as it appears in the photo.
The other topic getting media time is about how facilities spend the funds that they get from the Commonwealth and residents. Not sure where they get the idea we are not accountable for it. Barb spends an enormous amount of time each year having our finances audited to the last cent and uploading reams of prudential information to the Dept. In July each year the two of us look at what we spent on absolutely everything, from fruit juice to hairdressing supplies and comparing it to what we had budgeted for that item. Sometimes we are spot on with our estimates, sometimes we spend a lot more and very occasionally an area cost less than we thought it would. As an example, we budgeted $46,430 for meat and fish in 2019-2020. We spent $48,000 so the 20-21 budget has been increased, as obviously meat is going to be more expensive. We budgeted $28,000 for dairy and spent $31,890. Bruce says butter went up $50 an order at one stage and an order lasts about a fortnight. On the other hand we allowed $63,000 for electricity based on what we spent the year before but it only cost $58,941 last year. As usual the continence budget is leaking (an oldie but a goody)- so it goes up every year as do wages as staff get an annual pay rise. A summary of what we spend in each area is in our Annual Report.
As a rough guide, the Aged Care Funding Instrument subsidies, which are based on what care a resident needs, pays for the staff wages to provide that care. The daily care fee that residents pay goes towards the items we need to provide that care such as continence pads, and the accommodation payment from the resident or supplement from the Dept pays for what they call hotel services like power and laundry.
As usual if you have any questions feel free to contact me.
Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Last updated 01/09/2020
Welcome to today’s update.
Victorians have gritted their teeth, put up with the not inconsiderable ramifications of the restrictions, and done the right thing to protect us all. It is good to know that as a society we have each other’s backs when necessary. As a result, the Covid numbers are falling and Gorrinn Village is able to relax our visiting restrictions somewhat.
From Wednesday 2nd September we will be allowing visitors from other regional areas again.
At this point, those of you who live in the Stage 4 restriction areas will have to wait a little longer but people from other places are welcome to phone for an appointment, and of course locals have always been able to visit.
As we are still only able to have visits in the salon, appointments remain necessary and in order to accommodate everyone we are still restricting the frequency to I visit per resident per week.
We will review that in another 2 weeks and all being well the frequency of visits may increase.
Unfortunately, our new area is not ready yet due to supply problems, so Saturdays are still out.
All previous conditions still apply and they include:
- Accepting all parts of our screening procedure prior to entry including verbally confirming compliance with all of the stage 3 restrictions.
- Wearing a mask – no exceptions – this is part of Care Facilities Direction Number 10.
- Adhering to all of the visiting conditions such as no physical contact, staying in the visiting room and being escorted in and out by staff.
Please note that Gorrinn Village will do everything we can to prevent the entrance of this virus into the facility. This may include cancellation of a visit is it is deemed a risk to the health and safety of either residents or staff for any reason.
We are resuming our resident drives this week – even though they don’t get out of the bus – it is a welcome change of scene.
All our residents are well. One of the advantages of the restrictions is that all the measures that protect against Covid 19 also protect against other viruses so less flu, less gastro and less colds being caught in general by everyone which is great.
The staff remain vigilant for the slightest hint of a symptom in themselves and their households and get tested and isolate as necessary. Given the unpleasantness of the test it is a reflection of their determination not to let this virus in.
I listened to a facility manager from elsewhere the other day describe her experience. Even though it was a very small outbreak, they lost nearly all their staff to quarantine for a fortnight, including all the kitchen and cleaning staff. Now, I would back my cleaning skills against anyone’s, but if I have to start cooking the meals we are in serious trouble so best avoided at all costs.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Welcome to today’s update.
Victorians have gritted their teeth, put up with the not inconsiderable ramifications of the restrictions, and done the right thing to protect us all. It is good to know that as a society we have each other’s backs when necessary. As a result, the Covid numbers are falling and Gorrinn Village is able to relax our visiting restrictions somewhat.
From Wednesday 2nd September we will be allowing visitors from other regional areas again.
At this point, those of you who live in the Stage 4 restriction areas will have to wait a little longer but people from other places are welcome to phone for an appointment, and of course locals have always been able to visit.
As we are still only able to have visits in the salon, appointments remain necessary and in order to accommodate everyone we are still restricting the frequency to I visit per resident per week.
We will review that in another 2 weeks and all being well the frequency of visits may increase.
Unfortunately, our new area is not ready yet due to supply problems, so Saturdays are still out.
All previous conditions still apply and they include:
- Accepting all parts of our screening procedure prior to entry including verbally confirming compliance with all of the stage 3 restrictions.
- Wearing a mask – no exceptions – this is part of Care Facilities Direction Number 10.
- Adhering to all of the visiting conditions such as no physical contact, staying in the visiting room and being escorted in and out by staff.
Please note that Gorrinn Village will do everything we can to prevent the entrance of this virus into the facility. This may include cancellation of a visit is it is deemed a risk to the health and safety of either residents or staff for any reason.
We are resuming our resident drives this week – even though they don’t get out of the bus – it is a welcome change of scene.
All our residents are well. One of the advantages of the restrictions is that all the measures that protect against Covid 19 also protect against other viruses so less flu, less gastro and less colds being caught in general by everyone which is great.
The staff remain vigilant for the slightest hint of a symptom in themselves and their households and get tested and isolate as necessary. Given the unpleasantness of the test it is a reflection of their determination not to let this virus in.
I listened to a facility manager from elsewhere the other day describe her experience. Even though it was a very small outbreak, they lost nearly all their staff to quarantine for a fortnight, including all the kitchen and cleaning staff. Now, I would back my cleaning skills against anyone’s, but if I have to start cooking the meals we are in serious trouble so best avoided at all costs.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Last Updated 17/08/2020
The state of emergency has been extended in Victoria until the 13th September and a new Care Facilities Direction (number 10) issued which came into effect at midnight last night.
It is essentially the same as the previous Direction with no change to persons who are excluded, however we are making some changes to our conditions of entry.
The Direction states one visitor per resident per day for 1 hour for either end of life care OR emotional support which cannot be provided by any other means.
Gorrinn Village is however excluding persons who do not live in the Ararat local government area – except for end of life care.
Local Ararat visitors are restricted to one visit per resident per week. This is to enable as many residents to have a visit as possible.
This will commence on Wednesday 19th August and be reviewed in 2 weeks depending on the trends in other areas.
We strongly urge even locals to consider whether they can communicate with residents electronically with the iPad or telephone. Staff will be available to help residents who need assistance to use the technology.
Appointments will still need to be made via Reception and there will be an additional question for all visitors regarding compliance with the Stage 3 restrictions.
All our screening procedures and infection control arrangements remain in place and must be adhered to.
Masks must be worn throughout the entire visit - this is not negotiable – and visits are still taking place in the salon until the Ivy sunroom is modified.
We reserve the right to exclude any person who we consider to present an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of our staff or residents.
There have been some encouraging numbers in the last few days.
There have also been some distressing stories regarding outbreaks in facilities in Melbourne, so I feel it is a good time to give you a summary of some of our actions to date. This is the short version- the long one is - well - long.
The main problem facilities seem to have had is that up to 95% of their staff in some cases had to go home for 14 days because they had been in contact either with a positive resident or a positive staff member.
This is clearly something to be avoided so our plan is based on 2 main aims:
1/ Preventing the virus from entering the facility.
Some – but not all – of the ways we do that are:
All staff wear masks and depending on the task they are performing, shields and gloves as well.
Staff are paid to stay home and be tested for the slightest of respiratory symptoms and are also paid to stay home if anyone in their household has any symptoms until a test clears them as well.
All staff screened prior to entry at the beginning of every shift.
Staff are limiting their movements when not at work, even more than the Stage 3 restrictions mandate.
Visiting restricted and visits confined to a specific room.
All frequently handled surfaces are cleaned with bleach twice daily.
2/ Reducing the number of staff who would be classified as close contacts should an outbreak occur.
Some – but not all – of the ways we do that are:
Care and environmental staff are rostered to one side of the building or the other, with movement between areas kept to a minimum.
Catering staff are not having contact with residents.
Non-catering staff who do have contact with residents are not entering the kitchen.
Staff are separated in the tearoom with a 6 person limit and social distancing in place.
Medication staff are wearing face shields when administering eye drops or nebulized medications.
We do have contingency plan for a loss of staff – what we could appropriately stop doing for a short time and which staff could be used in areas to fill any gaps.
As you would imagine all our plans and actions are subject to change depending on state and federal updated advice, which seems to arrive on a daily basis. For example I downloaded a total of 50 pages this morning from various departments. Some of that information will alter our actions and plans, but that is life in a pandemic - constantly changing.
I spoke to the residents this afternoon and informed them of the alterations to the visiting situation which they were happy with.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
The state of emergency has been extended in Victoria until the 13th September and a new Care Facilities Direction (number 10) issued which came into effect at midnight last night.
It is essentially the same as the previous Direction with no change to persons who are excluded, however we are making some changes to our conditions of entry.
The Direction states one visitor per resident per day for 1 hour for either end of life care OR emotional support which cannot be provided by any other means.
Gorrinn Village is however excluding persons who do not live in the Ararat local government area – except for end of life care.
Local Ararat visitors are restricted to one visit per resident per week. This is to enable as many residents to have a visit as possible.
This will commence on Wednesday 19th August and be reviewed in 2 weeks depending on the trends in other areas.
We strongly urge even locals to consider whether they can communicate with residents electronically with the iPad or telephone. Staff will be available to help residents who need assistance to use the technology.
Appointments will still need to be made via Reception and there will be an additional question for all visitors regarding compliance with the Stage 3 restrictions.
All our screening procedures and infection control arrangements remain in place and must be adhered to.
Masks must be worn throughout the entire visit - this is not negotiable – and visits are still taking place in the salon until the Ivy sunroom is modified.
We reserve the right to exclude any person who we consider to present an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of our staff or residents.
There have been some encouraging numbers in the last few days.
There have also been some distressing stories regarding outbreaks in facilities in Melbourne, so I feel it is a good time to give you a summary of some of our actions to date. This is the short version- the long one is - well - long.
The main problem facilities seem to have had is that up to 95% of their staff in some cases had to go home for 14 days because they had been in contact either with a positive resident or a positive staff member.
This is clearly something to be avoided so our plan is based on 2 main aims:
1/ Preventing the virus from entering the facility.
Some – but not all – of the ways we do that are:
All staff wear masks and depending on the task they are performing, shields and gloves as well.
Staff are paid to stay home and be tested for the slightest of respiratory symptoms and are also paid to stay home if anyone in their household has any symptoms until a test clears them as well.
All staff screened prior to entry at the beginning of every shift.
Staff are limiting their movements when not at work, even more than the Stage 3 restrictions mandate.
Visiting restricted and visits confined to a specific room.
All frequently handled surfaces are cleaned with bleach twice daily.
2/ Reducing the number of staff who would be classified as close contacts should an outbreak occur.
Some – but not all – of the ways we do that are:
Care and environmental staff are rostered to one side of the building or the other, with movement between areas kept to a minimum.
Catering staff are not having contact with residents.
Non-catering staff who do have contact with residents are not entering the kitchen.
Staff are separated in the tearoom with a 6 person limit and social distancing in place.
Medication staff are wearing face shields when administering eye drops or nebulized medications.
We do have contingency plan for a loss of staff – what we could appropriately stop doing for a short time and which staff could be used in areas to fill any gaps.
As you would imagine all our plans and actions are subject to change depending on state and federal updated advice, which seems to arrive on a daily basis. For example I downloaded a total of 50 pages this morning from various departments. Some of that information will alter our actions and plans, but that is life in a pandemic - constantly changing.
I spoke to the residents this afternoon and informed them of the alterations to the visiting situation which they were happy with.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated 06/08/2020
Our resident’s test was negative so we are open for very limited business again.
As previously said, residents can still have visitors but under specific circumstances only.
These are during end of life care and to provide emotional or social support where that cannot be provided by electronic or non contact means. This can be by a partner, guardian, carer or support person only. We are doing this on a case by case basis. An example would be where either the resident or the support person was hearing impaired and unable to communicate satisfactorily by phone or iPad AND the resident was distressed by the lack of contact.
Entry conditions apply to all visitors. Face mask worn, screening procedure adhered to, social distancing and hand hygiene are all mandatory. Visits are limited to 1 per resident per day for 1 hour.
I was asked by a relative to explain how it is that we can make a mask mandatory when the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services direction states that there are lawful exceptions.
Well there are 2 very different things in force here. The Department direction applies to Victorians when out of their home. Private landowners or occupiers can, under Australian law, set conditions of entry of their choosing as long as they don’t breach the anti-discrimination laws and post a notice to that effect.
Examples include the “no hat, no play” rule at schools or the ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service” at hotels as well as the requirement to submit to a bag search in supermarkets. Therefore we, as well as supermarkets, other shops and Bunnings can absolutely make the wearing of a mask a condition of entry, regardless of the Department’s statement about lawful exemptions.
This brings me to another question I was asked earlier in the week. What sort of medical condition would prevent someone from wearing a mask.
Firstly the Department direction for the public doesn’t state “mask” it says “face covering” which gives people more options.
Now rather than just my opinion I asked our GPs for their views. They say there are very few conditions that would make wearing an actual mask difficult – maybe facial injuries or deformities or a mental health condition such as claustrophobia, but virtually none of the conditions that people think would prevent them wearing a mask are correct.
If there was such a condition then the solution is a face shield instead. They are much more comfortable and also solve the problem for hearing impaired people as they can still see the other person’s face. As health workers we have to wear both masks, and shields, in some situations as they protect our eyes.
To address some scenarios that the doctors have been asked to give exemption certificates for – and they have not done so. One is that it will cause their oxygen levels to drop, or their carbon dioxide levels to rise. Masks are made of a breathable material – air has no trouble getting in or out. If it did, then operating theatres would be full of unconscious surgeons and nurses. We tested this with 5 masks on and there was a complete absence of swooning. Hot though!
Another is having a blocked nose may mean you cannot wear a mask. I have a permanently blocked nose but I can breathe through my mouth. If I couldn’t breathe through either then I wouldn’t need to worry about Covid-19.
A third concern has been about allergies and masks. Well, actually a mask is recommended treatment for severe allergies as it protects the wearing from airborne allergens.
Emphysema, asthma – the issue here seems to be that the mask causes anxiety about breathing rather than an actual physical problem. This is where the doctors often recommend a face shield instead.
I could go on but those are the main concerns that seem to crop up. Hope that is useful.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Our resident’s test was negative so we are open for very limited business again.
As previously said, residents can still have visitors but under specific circumstances only.
These are during end of life care and to provide emotional or social support where that cannot be provided by electronic or non contact means. This can be by a partner, guardian, carer or support person only. We are doing this on a case by case basis. An example would be where either the resident or the support person was hearing impaired and unable to communicate satisfactorily by phone or iPad AND the resident was distressed by the lack of contact.
Entry conditions apply to all visitors. Face mask worn, screening procedure adhered to, social distancing and hand hygiene are all mandatory. Visits are limited to 1 per resident per day for 1 hour.
I was asked by a relative to explain how it is that we can make a mask mandatory when the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services direction states that there are lawful exceptions.
Well there are 2 very different things in force here. The Department direction applies to Victorians when out of their home. Private landowners or occupiers can, under Australian law, set conditions of entry of their choosing as long as they don’t breach the anti-discrimination laws and post a notice to that effect.
Examples include the “no hat, no play” rule at schools or the ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service” at hotels as well as the requirement to submit to a bag search in supermarkets. Therefore we, as well as supermarkets, other shops and Bunnings can absolutely make the wearing of a mask a condition of entry, regardless of the Department’s statement about lawful exemptions.
This brings me to another question I was asked earlier in the week. What sort of medical condition would prevent someone from wearing a mask.
Firstly the Department direction for the public doesn’t state “mask” it says “face covering” which gives people more options.
Now rather than just my opinion I asked our GPs for their views. They say there are very few conditions that would make wearing an actual mask difficult – maybe facial injuries or deformities or a mental health condition such as claustrophobia, but virtually none of the conditions that people think would prevent them wearing a mask are correct.
If there was such a condition then the solution is a face shield instead. They are much more comfortable and also solve the problem for hearing impaired people as they can still see the other person’s face. As health workers we have to wear both masks, and shields, in some situations as they protect our eyes.
To address some scenarios that the doctors have been asked to give exemption certificates for – and they have not done so. One is that it will cause their oxygen levels to drop, or their carbon dioxide levels to rise. Masks are made of a breathable material – air has no trouble getting in or out. If it did, then operating theatres would be full of unconscious surgeons and nurses. We tested this with 5 masks on and there was a complete absence of swooning. Hot though!
Another is having a blocked nose may mean you cannot wear a mask. I have a permanently blocked nose but I can breathe through my mouth. If I couldn’t breathe through either then I wouldn’t need to worry about Covid-19.
A third concern has been about allergies and masks. Well, actually a mask is recommended treatment for severe allergies as it protects the wearing from airborne allergens.
Emphysema, asthma – the issue here seems to be that the mask causes anxiety about breathing rather than an actual physical problem. This is where the doctors often recommend a face shield instead.
I could go on but those are the main concerns that seem to crop up. Hope that is useful.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 03/08/2020
Once again, many things have changed. From midnight on Wednesday the 5th August regional Victoria and therefore Ararat will move to stage 3 restrictions.
For visiting in residential care, additional restrictions were put into place on 2/8/20 by the Victorian Premier and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Visiting is only permitted during end of life care OR to provide essential emotional support to a resident that cannot be provided using non-contact means, and only by a spouse, partner, guardian, carer or designated support person.
This applies to all facilities and is not based on regions or the transmission situation in a particular place.
We will be interpreting the second criteria on a case by case basis but we will review things depending on how the situation in Ararat, or the state in general changes.
Where visits do occur on site, the previous requirements still apply with the one additional one.
That is that the visits can only occur in the salon – we are not to use the GP surgery on a Saturday.
Therefore visits cannot take place on a Saturday I’m afraid.
Just to reiterate, where visits do occur on site, a mask is mandatory.
The “lawful reason” that is OK in the community is not OK at Gorrinn Village.
Visits that have been booked for the next 2 days will go ahead, but after that it will be as stated above.
I encourage you all to use the various electronic methods of communication that are available.
Staff will assist the resident at this end.
Feel free to ring and speak to Jo or myself about your relative – we understand that your emotional health is important as well.
The residents all remain well and fully occupied.
Gorrinn Village continues to focus on prevention as our preferred scenario and I welcome the stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne and stage 3 elsewhere as a positive aid in achieving that.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Once again, many things have changed. From midnight on Wednesday the 5th August regional Victoria and therefore Ararat will move to stage 3 restrictions.
For visiting in residential care, additional restrictions were put into place on 2/8/20 by the Victorian Premier and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Visiting is only permitted during end of life care OR to provide essential emotional support to a resident that cannot be provided using non-contact means, and only by a spouse, partner, guardian, carer or designated support person.
This applies to all facilities and is not based on regions or the transmission situation in a particular place.
We will be interpreting the second criteria on a case by case basis but we will review things depending on how the situation in Ararat, or the state in general changes.
Where visits do occur on site, the previous requirements still apply with the one additional one.
That is that the visits can only occur in the salon – we are not to use the GP surgery on a Saturday.
Therefore visits cannot take place on a Saturday I’m afraid.
Just to reiterate, where visits do occur on site, a mask is mandatory.
The “lawful reason” that is OK in the community is not OK at Gorrinn Village.
Visits that have been booked for the next 2 days will go ahead, but after that it will be as stated above.
I encourage you all to use the various electronic methods of communication that are available.
Staff will assist the resident at this end.
Feel free to ring and speak to Jo or myself about your relative – we understand that your emotional health is important as well.
The residents all remain well and fully occupied.
Gorrinn Village continues to focus on prevention as our preferred scenario and I welcome the stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne and stage 3 elsewhere as a positive aid in achieving that.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 31/07/2020
It seems my update from earlier in the week was out of date pretty quickly.
Firstly, I would like to thank the people who have contacted me to say how much they appreciate these updates. It is good to know that you find them useful. If anyone has anything specific they would like included - whether it be related to the facility specifically or on aged care generally just let me know.
There have been a number of changes over the last couple of days.
All staff in all residential aged care facilities and home care are now wearing masks at work and at 11.59pm Sunday August 1st, the rest of Victoria will join us when out of their homes.
There has been a change to the visiting rules for aged care. We noticed last week that the requirement for visitors to have had an influenza vaccination had disappeared from the latest Care Facilities Direction. Clarification was sought and initially we were told it still applied.
Yesterday however, another bulletin has definitively stated that while it is to be encouraged it is no longer mandatory. All the other restrictions both at state and local level are still in place though.
That means – state based - no one under 16 except during end of life care, the visitor must be either a guardian, spouse, carer or support person, each resident can have 1 visitor per day for a maximum of 1 hour and people residing in the Stage 3 restricted areas of metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire only in exceptional circumstances.
All visitors must wear a mask - the exception rules for Victorians generally do not apply when visiting aged care – and all screening and facility requirements must be adhered to.
That means – at Gorrinn Village - we are in general limiting visitors to those from local areas only. Obviously end of life care would be an exception and we are happy to consider visitors from other regional areas on a case by case basis.
The residents have been reassured that there is no need for them to worry because staff are wearing masks and it is not because of a problem at the facility or indeed in the area.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
It seems my update from earlier in the week was out of date pretty quickly.
Firstly, I would like to thank the people who have contacted me to say how much they appreciate these updates. It is good to know that you find them useful. If anyone has anything specific they would like included - whether it be related to the facility specifically or on aged care generally just let me know.
There have been a number of changes over the last couple of days.
All staff in all residential aged care facilities and home care are now wearing masks at work and at 11.59pm Sunday August 1st, the rest of Victoria will join us when out of their homes.
There has been a change to the visiting rules for aged care. We noticed last week that the requirement for visitors to have had an influenza vaccination had disappeared from the latest Care Facilities Direction. Clarification was sought and initially we were told it still applied.
Yesterday however, another bulletin has definitively stated that while it is to be encouraged it is no longer mandatory. All the other restrictions both at state and local level are still in place though.
That means – state based - no one under 16 except during end of life care, the visitor must be either a guardian, spouse, carer or support person, each resident can have 1 visitor per day for a maximum of 1 hour and people residing in the Stage 3 restricted areas of metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire only in exceptional circumstances.
All visitors must wear a mask - the exception rules for Victorians generally do not apply when visiting aged care – and all screening and facility requirements must be adhered to.
That means – at Gorrinn Village - we are in general limiting visitors to those from local areas only. Obviously end of life care would be an exception and we are happy to consider visitors from other regional areas on a case by case basis.
The residents have been reassured that there is no need for them to worry because staff are wearing masks and it is not because of a problem at the facility or indeed in the area.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 28/07/2020
As of today, July 28th, Victoria had another 384 cases of Covid 19. That is a better number than yesterday and if it continues to drop it will indicate that the measures in place in the restricted areas are working.
A large number of Aged Care Facilities in Melbourne have terrible outbreaks and I want to reassure you all that while we will do everything possible to ensure we do not have one at all, if it did occur we have detailed plans in place to manage it.
You can be absolutely assured that myself and the other registered nurses on staff have both the clinical experience and skills as well as the infection control skills to do so.
We have a scary number of acute clinical nursing years between us and while we cannot turn the Village into an intensive care unit, we can definitely care for residents who are unwell – up to the point where they need equipment or clinical care that simply cannot be done outside a hospital.
So, what are we doing?
Our focus is on preventing infection from getting in and In Ararat we continue to be Covid 19 free, which helps a lot.
Gorrinn Village does not use casual staff as I don’t believe it is ethical. Staff should have guaranteed hours with sick leave and annual leave.
We do have 1 casual carer – at her request - who only works for us.
All staff are under instruction to stay at home as much as possible when not working, to wear face masks in public even though we are not in a restricted area or a hotspot, to monitor the behaviour of others in their household and to leave Ararat only if essential.
Most importantly, they clearly understand that they must stay home at the slightest indication of any symptom of respiratory illness or any sign of respiratory illness in a member of their household.
They are also very aware that they must stay home while they, or anyone they know, is waiting for a test result.
They have been doing this since March and they know how important it is.
All staff are screened before starting work each shift.
The current visitor restrictions are being adhered to, and in fact we have always controlled visitors within the facility.
Obviously, visitors from the restricted areas cannot come in at present and we are restricting out of town visitors while there are increased numbers in some regions as well, but otherwise residents can have 1 visitor per day each for a maximum of 1 hour.
There are of course exceptions for end of life care and there is flexibility around visitors from areas other than Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, on a case by case basis.
Regular local visitors are being advised to wear masks in public as well.
I have been asked by some people why staff are not wearing masks at work when they are aware that some state government facilities are.
The state facilities are all part of public hospitals - where masks are being worn - and they have decided that it is better to have an across the board policy which makes sense.
For those of us in the regions who are not hospital facilities there is no requirement for aged care staff to wear masks at work at present – especially if the area has no cases.
All the announcements from the Premier and the Departments of Health and Human Services, both Federal and Victorian, apply to the areas under restriction. Now, sometimes it is not clear who they are referring to and I seek clarification of the plethora of information we receive multiple times a day to ensure that we are in fact doing everything we are supposed to.
If Ararat develops cases we would immediately move to staff wearing masks at work.
What is our plan for an outbreak?
We have set up a "Covid ward" in our Community Centre, where any resident who tested positive would be cared for outside of the main facility if they did not need – or want - hospital care. This would be staffed by the same staff throughout the outbreak, who have volunteered to do so.
I would provide the clinical nursing care and supervision – and remain in the community centre - for the duration. We are setting up a house we own on the block for the isolation staff to stay in if they do not wish to go home between shifts. We have cleverly ensured that one of them is also a cook so in order to counteract the effects of that we have borrowed a resident’s exercise bike to put in the house.
We are incredibly fortunate to have the ability to do this if necessary, as there are a number of very active residents for whom hospitalisation would be extremely difficult.
We very much hope that none of this will be needed, but even though I was thrown out of the Brownies for having a “smart mouth and a bad attitude’, I do like to be prepared.
If you have any questions or want to discuss anything in greater detail please don’t hesitate to call.
I am meeting with the residents this afternoon as some of the media reports about aged care are no doubt disturbing them.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
As of today, July 28th, Victoria had another 384 cases of Covid 19. That is a better number than yesterday and if it continues to drop it will indicate that the measures in place in the restricted areas are working.
A large number of Aged Care Facilities in Melbourne have terrible outbreaks and I want to reassure you all that while we will do everything possible to ensure we do not have one at all, if it did occur we have detailed plans in place to manage it.
You can be absolutely assured that myself and the other registered nurses on staff have both the clinical experience and skills as well as the infection control skills to do so.
We have a scary number of acute clinical nursing years between us and while we cannot turn the Village into an intensive care unit, we can definitely care for residents who are unwell – up to the point where they need equipment or clinical care that simply cannot be done outside a hospital.
So, what are we doing?
Our focus is on preventing infection from getting in and In Ararat we continue to be Covid 19 free, which helps a lot.
Gorrinn Village does not use casual staff as I don’t believe it is ethical. Staff should have guaranteed hours with sick leave and annual leave.
We do have 1 casual carer – at her request - who only works for us.
All staff are under instruction to stay at home as much as possible when not working, to wear face masks in public even though we are not in a restricted area or a hotspot, to monitor the behaviour of others in their household and to leave Ararat only if essential.
Most importantly, they clearly understand that they must stay home at the slightest indication of any symptom of respiratory illness or any sign of respiratory illness in a member of their household.
They are also very aware that they must stay home while they, or anyone they know, is waiting for a test result.
They have been doing this since March and they know how important it is.
All staff are screened before starting work each shift.
The current visitor restrictions are being adhered to, and in fact we have always controlled visitors within the facility.
Obviously, visitors from the restricted areas cannot come in at present and we are restricting out of town visitors while there are increased numbers in some regions as well, but otherwise residents can have 1 visitor per day each for a maximum of 1 hour.
There are of course exceptions for end of life care and there is flexibility around visitors from areas other than Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, on a case by case basis.
Regular local visitors are being advised to wear masks in public as well.
I have been asked by some people why staff are not wearing masks at work when they are aware that some state government facilities are.
The state facilities are all part of public hospitals - where masks are being worn - and they have decided that it is better to have an across the board policy which makes sense.
For those of us in the regions who are not hospital facilities there is no requirement for aged care staff to wear masks at work at present – especially if the area has no cases.
All the announcements from the Premier and the Departments of Health and Human Services, both Federal and Victorian, apply to the areas under restriction. Now, sometimes it is not clear who they are referring to and I seek clarification of the plethora of information we receive multiple times a day to ensure that we are in fact doing everything we are supposed to.
If Ararat develops cases we would immediately move to staff wearing masks at work.
What is our plan for an outbreak?
We have set up a "Covid ward" in our Community Centre, where any resident who tested positive would be cared for outside of the main facility if they did not need – or want - hospital care. This would be staffed by the same staff throughout the outbreak, who have volunteered to do so.
I would provide the clinical nursing care and supervision – and remain in the community centre - for the duration. We are setting up a house we own on the block for the isolation staff to stay in if they do not wish to go home between shifts. We have cleverly ensured that one of them is also a cook so in order to counteract the effects of that we have borrowed a resident’s exercise bike to put in the house.
We are incredibly fortunate to have the ability to do this if necessary, as there are a number of very active residents for whom hospitalisation would be extremely difficult.
We very much hope that none of this will be needed, but even though I was thrown out of the Brownies for having a “smart mouth and a bad attitude’, I do like to be prepared.
If you have any questions or want to discuss anything in greater detail please don’t hesitate to call.
I am meeting with the residents this afternoon as some of the media reports about aged care are no doubt disturbing them.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 23/07/2020
Visiting criteria has changed under Care Facilities Directive No. 8.
The visitor must be a guardian, partner, carer or support person of the resident, and the visit must be for the purpose of providing emotional and social support to the resident, that cannot be provided by that person via electronic or other non-contact means.
Visitors will be limited to only 1 visitor, once per day, for a maximum of 1 hour.
As usual, we will continue to ask screening questions and temperature test prior to visits and we ask those who do visit to refrain from visiting if they are unwell or even slightly unwell.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Visiting criteria has changed under Care Facilities Directive No. 8.
The visitor must be a guardian, partner, carer or support person of the resident, and the visit must be for the purpose of providing emotional and social support to the resident, that cannot be provided by that person via electronic or other non-contact means.
Visitors will be limited to only 1 visitor, once per day, for a maximum of 1 hour.
As usual, we will continue to ask screening questions and temperature test prior to visits and we ask those who do visit to refrain from visiting if they are unwell or even slightly unwell.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 22/07/2020 - We are no longer accepting visitors from outside the Ararat area. Other conditions are unchanged. Contact Reception if you have any questions.
Updated: 20/07/2020
With the situation changing rapidly in Victoria, it seems that every day brings a new version of what we are supposed to be doing in aged care to protect our residents from Covid 19.
Currently we get information from both the State and Federal Government websites, our peak body, and the Premier’s daily update. All of these generate a number of questions and often need clarification in order to ensure that we are getting it right and not doing something that isn’t what it sounds like.
At present I am waiting for clarification on a number of reports made over the last few days. When I have the facts straight I will update you.
In the mean time what has changed here is that all visitors are wearing masks between the front door and the visiting room. Once in the room the screen is in place so that the mask is not needed when communicating with the resident. It is then resumed for the trek to the front door.
Our outbreak plan has always been to set up a separate facility in the Community Centre if we have even one positive resident. Although there is a lot of media talk about sending positive aged care residents to hospital automatically, at present the advice is that it would depend on both clinical needs and the ability of the facility to isolate people. We are fortunate to have the ability to run a separate, self contained isolation ”ward” if needed. Staff have already volunteered to be part of that separate workforce and would be housed in the building for the duration – as would I.
This is of course contingent on the clinical needs of any ill resident as well as Health Department instructions.
At a staff meeting last Wednesday, we strongly advised all staff to wear masks in public – although Ararat remains virus free at present. Now, of course, that is the advice for everyone outside the areas under Level 3 restrictions.
Of course by tomorrow, all of this could have changed, so stay tuned.
I am meeting with the residents regularly for updates – while trying not to overload them – as they are also getting a lot of media exposure. We have to walk a fine line between providing information and frightening and confusing people. They are all well and while the situation does concern them, they are reassured by the knowledge that at present the town is doing OK.
Make no mistake about this virus, you do not want to get it.
It is NOT like the flu in any way at all.
It is much more contagious, the mortality rate is at least 10 times higher and while it does attack the respiratory system it also attacks blood vessels causing clots that are leading to heart attacks and strokes even in young people.
Neurological complications are also occurring.
Although it hasn’t been around for long, even people who have so called "mild" disease are still experiencing debilitating symptoms 3 months down the track.
It is starting to look as though some people may even have long term life changing disabilities.
I say this not to frighten you but to hopefully provide ‘our people” with a counterpoint to some of the misinformation that is surprisingly prevalent. The Premier and health experts are perhaps less blunt than I am - which is why I will not be the Village spokesperson if we have an outbreak.
I do understand that people are scared and that some may self-soothe by latching on to information that plays down the seriousness of the situation – and in some cases – actually suggests the virus isn’t real...
This may make someone feel better, but if that influences their behaviour and leads to them taking risks, then they are not just affecting themselves, but everyone else.
Of course we are all “over it”, but no-one ever solved a problem by ignoring it, and in this case the repercussions can be tragic.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
With the situation changing rapidly in Victoria, it seems that every day brings a new version of what we are supposed to be doing in aged care to protect our residents from Covid 19.
Currently we get information from both the State and Federal Government websites, our peak body, and the Premier’s daily update. All of these generate a number of questions and often need clarification in order to ensure that we are getting it right and not doing something that isn’t what it sounds like.
At present I am waiting for clarification on a number of reports made over the last few days. When I have the facts straight I will update you.
In the mean time what has changed here is that all visitors are wearing masks between the front door and the visiting room. Once in the room the screen is in place so that the mask is not needed when communicating with the resident. It is then resumed for the trek to the front door.
Our outbreak plan has always been to set up a separate facility in the Community Centre if we have even one positive resident. Although there is a lot of media talk about sending positive aged care residents to hospital automatically, at present the advice is that it would depend on both clinical needs and the ability of the facility to isolate people. We are fortunate to have the ability to run a separate, self contained isolation ”ward” if needed. Staff have already volunteered to be part of that separate workforce and would be housed in the building for the duration – as would I.
This is of course contingent on the clinical needs of any ill resident as well as Health Department instructions.
At a staff meeting last Wednesday, we strongly advised all staff to wear masks in public – although Ararat remains virus free at present. Now, of course, that is the advice for everyone outside the areas under Level 3 restrictions.
Of course by tomorrow, all of this could have changed, so stay tuned.
I am meeting with the residents regularly for updates – while trying not to overload them – as they are also getting a lot of media exposure. We have to walk a fine line between providing information and frightening and confusing people. They are all well and while the situation does concern them, they are reassured by the knowledge that at present the town is doing OK.
Make no mistake about this virus, you do not want to get it.
It is NOT like the flu in any way at all.
It is much more contagious, the mortality rate is at least 10 times higher and while it does attack the respiratory system it also attacks blood vessels causing clots that are leading to heart attacks and strokes even in young people.
Neurological complications are also occurring.
Although it hasn’t been around for long, even people who have so called "mild" disease are still experiencing debilitating symptoms 3 months down the track.
It is starting to look as though some people may even have long term life changing disabilities.
I say this not to frighten you but to hopefully provide ‘our people” with a counterpoint to some of the misinformation that is surprisingly prevalent. The Premier and health experts are perhaps less blunt than I am - which is why I will not be the Village spokesperson if we have an outbreak.
I do understand that people are scared and that some may self-soothe by latching on to information that plays down the seriousness of the situation – and in some cases – actually suggests the virus isn’t real...
This may make someone feel better, but if that influences their behaviour and leads to them taking risks, then they are not just affecting themselves, but everyone else.
Of course we are all “over it”, but no-one ever solved a problem by ignoring it, and in this case the repercussions can be tragic.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 17/07/2020
Based on today's recommendation by the Premier, owing to the large increase in infections across the state of Victoria, all visitors to Gorrinn Village will be required to wear face masks when visiting residents.
If you have concerns about wearing a mask, please call and ask to speak to the RN.
We will continue to temperature test and ask visitors the screening questions, so please be honest when answering these.
If you would prefer to video chat with a resident, please phone Reception to organise a time to have a video call on our iPad.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Based on today's recommendation by the Premier, owing to the large increase in infections across the state of Victoria, all visitors to Gorrinn Village will be required to wear face masks when visiting residents.
If you have concerns about wearing a mask, please call and ask to speak to the RN.
We will continue to temperature test and ask visitors the screening questions, so please be honest when answering these.
If you would prefer to video chat with a resident, please phone Reception to organise a time to have a video call on our iPad.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 10/07/2020
In light of today's increase of 288 cases in Victoria overnight, please be advised that anyone visiting residents who is from Melbourne will be prohibited from entering the facility.
Any local visitors who have been to Melbourne within the last 14 days will also be restricted from entering the facility at the current time.
You must tell us if you have recently visited Melbourne.
Arrangements can be made for visits in exceptional circumstances. Please ring RN on duty.
Thank you for your continued patience.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
In light of today's increase of 288 cases in Victoria overnight, please be advised that anyone visiting residents who is from Melbourne will be prohibited from entering the facility.
Any local visitors who have been to Melbourne within the last 14 days will also be restricted from entering the facility at the current time.
You must tell us if you have recently visited Melbourne.
Arrangements can be made for visits in exceptional circumstances. Please ring RN on duty.
Thank you for your continued patience.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 03/07/2020
The continuing increase in Covid 19 cases in Victoria has resulted in the lockdown of a number of Melbourne suburbs.
Obviously, relatives from those areas will not be visiting Ararat, but we would ask that people from anywhere in Melbourne, or have recently visited Melbourne, to give serious thought to not visiting Gorrinn Village at this time.
Unfortunately, I need to mention that while most visitors have been fabulous at following our instructions, we have had a couple of issues, so please understand that in the event of non-compliance the person involved will be asked to leave.
We are acting not only in our resident’s best interest but also in line with all the various Commonwealth and Victorian directives.
I have clarified the issue around Influenza vaccination.
People who cannot have it for medical reasons can visit on compassionate grounds and during end of life situations. There would need to be some extra precautions.
People who choose not to have the Influenza vaccine cannot visit at all.
Our residents are all well and fully occupied.
Do not hesitate to phone and ask staff to assist you with phone or iPad visits.
See previous updates for the visiting process.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
The continuing increase in Covid 19 cases in Victoria has resulted in the lockdown of a number of Melbourne suburbs.
Obviously, relatives from those areas will not be visiting Ararat, but we would ask that people from anywhere in Melbourne, or have recently visited Melbourne, to give serious thought to not visiting Gorrinn Village at this time.
Unfortunately, I need to mention that while most visitors have been fabulous at following our instructions, we have had a couple of issues, so please understand that in the event of non-compliance the person involved will be asked to leave.
We are acting not only in our resident’s best interest but also in line with all the various Commonwealth and Victorian directives.
I have clarified the issue around Influenza vaccination.
People who cannot have it for medical reasons can visit on compassionate grounds and during end of life situations. There would need to be some extra precautions.
People who choose not to have the Influenza vaccine cannot visit at all.
Our residents are all well and fully occupied.
Do not hesitate to phone and ask staff to assist you with phone or iPad visits.
See previous updates for the visiting process.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 25/06/2020
The rise in Covid 19 cases in Victoria over the last week has resulted in the continuation of the State of Emergency until July 19th.
There is also a continuation of the current restrictions for residential aged care facilities based on Health Services Directive number 5.
Even though the National Guidelines have changed, Victoria has not.
Therefore at Gorrinn Village, people under 16 years are still not able to visit, the Fluvax is still required, and visits remain restricted to 2 per persons per day for a maximum of 2 hours.
Please remember that when it comes to this virus, you are not an island but the sum total of all the people you have contact with, the people they have contact with, and the people THEY have contact with.
We obviously want to reduce the possible exposure to staff and residents at the moment, so even though residents can have 2 visitors a day, we would ask that people be mindful of the increase in the virus numbers and consider keeping visits to family or regular supporters.
Locally, Ararat remains virus free, but we have added a screening question for local visitors about recent travel to Melbourne.
In addition, we are asking all visitors coming from Melbourne to wear a mask while this surge in positive tests is occurring.
Currently we are using the Salon, but we are looking at a better solution for the longer term.
Using the Salon involves visitors traversing the very public foyer and adjacent corridor, and we are noticing that some have problems maintaining the required distance from other residents and staff.
We do have an option for family visitors who are unable to have the Fluvax for medical reasons – phone Reception for information.
Don’t forget we have the iPad for residents to use for video calls. You do need to phone and book so staff can assist the resident with it.
We currently have Skype, Facetime and Zoom available to use, but if there is another program you would like to use to talk with your family member, please contact us and we will try our best to facilitate this.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
The rise in Covid 19 cases in Victoria over the last week has resulted in the continuation of the State of Emergency until July 19th.
There is also a continuation of the current restrictions for residential aged care facilities based on Health Services Directive number 5.
Even though the National Guidelines have changed, Victoria has not.
Therefore at Gorrinn Village, people under 16 years are still not able to visit, the Fluvax is still required, and visits remain restricted to 2 per persons per day for a maximum of 2 hours.
Please remember that when it comes to this virus, you are not an island but the sum total of all the people you have contact with, the people they have contact with, and the people THEY have contact with.
We obviously want to reduce the possible exposure to staff and residents at the moment, so even though residents can have 2 visitors a day, we would ask that people be mindful of the increase in the virus numbers and consider keeping visits to family or regular supporters.
Locally, Ararat remains virus free, but we have added a screening question for local visitors about recent travel to Melbourne.
In addition, we are asking all visitors coming from Melbourne to wear a mask while this surge in positive tests is occurring.
Currently we are using the Salon, but we are looking at a better solution for the longer term.
Using the Salon involves visitors traversing the very public foyer and adjacent corridor, and we are noticing that some have problems maintaining the required distance from other residents and staff.
We do have an option for family visitors who are unable to have the Fluvax for medical reasons – phone Reception for information.
Don’t forget we have the iPad for residents to use for video calls. You do need to phone and book so staff can assist the resident with it.
We currently have Skype, Facetime and Zoom available to use, but if there is another program you would like to use to talk with your family member, please contact us and we will try our best to facilitate this.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 16/06/2020
Due to the wintry wet and cold Ararat weather, we have decided to move our visiting area inside, to our Hairdressing Salon, except on Saturdays when the Hairdresser is here, then visits will take place from the Doctor's Surgery.
This means that screening is even more important, as visitors will be inside the building, and there will be no screen between you and the resident.
Please do not visit if you are unwell or even slightly unwell.
As usual, we have our iPad available for video calls, if anyone wants to utilise this option just ring Reception to book an appointment.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Due to the wintry wet and cold Ararat weather, we have decided to move our visiting area inside, to our Hairdressing Salon, except on Saturdays when the Hairdresser is here, then visits will take place from the Doctor's Surgery.
This means that screening is even more important, as visitors will be inside the building, and there will be no screen between you and the resident.
Please do not visit if you are unwell or even slightly unwell.
As usual, we have our iPad available for video calls, if anyone wants to utilise this option just ring Reception to book an appointment.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 05/06/2020
Several things happened on the first of June. Winter arrived for one. Also, the relaxing of a number of restrictions for Victorians.
What hasn’t changed is the State of Emergency, which has been extended until the 21st June.
With that is included the Health Care Directive (number 3) which covers residential aged care.
What will happen after June 21st we do not know, nor do we know whether some of the visiting restrictions will continue beyond the State of Emergency.
Ararat has been in a lovely safe bubble for the last couple of months as far as the virus is concerned, but the state is still getting new cases daily, and although most of them are linked to specific clusters, not all are. Given that restrictions are lifting, and with a public holiday next Monday, we will be watching what happens with the virus numbers in Victoria very closely over the next couple of weeks.
The other thing that happened recently was a Code of Conduct around visiting in aged care facilities during the pandemic. This was developed as a National Guide due to the wide variety of actions that were taking place from facility to facility. While the code is a national one, it is affected by state directives.
What remains the same until at least June 22nd, as per the Victorian Health Care Directive is as follows:
1. Visitors must have had the 2020 Influenza vaccination and provide evidence of that. The other exclusions also still apply such as no one under the age of 16 being able to visit except in exceptional circumstances.
2. Visitors are restricted to 2 per resident per day for a maximum of 2 hours except in exceptional circumstances such as end of life.
3. Once again, except in exceptional circumstances.
4. If a resident had to be tested for the virus all visiting of any sort would stop while awaiting test results.
5. Residents can still not go out in public.
Gorrinn Village specific:
1. We will continue to use the airlock as a visiting area BUT from Tuesday 9th we will remove the screen and turn the table the other way so that the resident and the visitor are 1.5 metres apart.
This means no physical contact still.
Without the screen both the social distancing and screening of visitors will be much more important.
This change is to ensure we are in line with the Code which states that “in-person visits’ should be provided where possible and a screen means it is not an “in-person” visit. I am not sure that I agree with that, about our type of set up, but that is the definition.
Appointments will still be needed.
2. We will reinstate our drives. Groups of residents will be taken for a drive but not get out of the car. They will get the benefit of leaving the facility without them mixing with the public or breaching the regulations for residential care.
3. We will continue to encourage the use of technology to maintain contact. Especially if in-person visits are cancelled. Our iPad will be available for video calls, appointments are required.
Obviously everything we do is contingent on the situation at any given time.
I would like to take the opportunity to once again thank all our residents, their families, and especially the staff, for all working together during the last couple of months to keep everyone safe.
Please check out the new photos of the Evening Under The Stars event.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Several things happened on the first of June. Winter arrived for one. Also, the relaxing of a number of restrictions for Victorians.
What hasn’t changed is the State of Emergency, which has been extended until the 21st June.
With that is included the Health Care Directive (number 3) which covers residential aged care.
What will happen after June 21st we do not know, nor do we know whether some of the visiting restrictions will continue beyond the State of Emergency.
Ararat has been in a lovely safe bubble for the last couple of months as far as the virus is concerned, but the state is still getting new cases daily, and although most of them are linked to specific clusters, not all are. Given that restrictions are lifting, and with a public holiday next Monday, we will be watching what happens with the virus numbers in Victoria very closely over the next couple of weeks.
The other thing that happened recently was a Code of Conduct around visiting in aged care facilities during the pandemic. This was developed as a National Guide due to the wide variety of actions that were taking place from facility to facility. While the code is a national one, it is affected by state directives.
What remains the same until at least June 22nd, as per the Victorian Health Care Directive is as follows:
1. Visitors must have had the 2020 Influenza vaccination and provide evidence of that. The other exclusions also still apply such as no one under the age of 16 being able to visit except in exceptional circumstances.
2. Visitors are restricted to 2 per resident per day for a maximum of 2 hours except in exceptional circumstances such as end of life.
3. Once again, except in exceptional circumstances.
4. If a resident had to be tested for the virus all visiting of any sort would stop while awaiting test results.
5. Residents can still not go out in public.
Gorrinn Village specific:
1. We will continue to use the airlock as a visiting area BUT from Tuesday 9th we will remove the screen and turn the table the other way so that the resident and the visitor are 1.5 metres apart.
This means no physical contact still.
Without the screen both the social distancing and screening of visitors will be much more important.
This change is to ensure we are in line with the Code which states that “in-person visits’ should be provided where possible and a screen means it is not an “in-person” visit. I am not sure that I agree with that, about our type of set up, but that is the definition.
Appointments will still be needed.
2. We will reinstate our drives. Groups of residents will be taken for a drive but not get out of the car. They will get the benefit of leaving the facility without them mixing with the public or breaching the regulations for residential care.
3. We will continue to encourage the use of technology to maintain contact. Especially if in-person visits are cancelled. Our iPad will be available for video calls, appointments are required.
Obviously everything we do is contingent on the situation at any given time.
I would like to take the opportunity to once again thank all our residents, their families, and especially the staff, for all working together during the last couple of months to keep everyone safe.
Please check out the new photos of the Evening Under The Stars event.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 25 May 2020.
Scheduled visiting has commenced again, after being postponed since last Thursday night. Thank you for your patience.
Family members can now ring in again and book a time to have a catch up with their loved ones.
It is worth mentioning that when the facility must cancel physical visits, we now have the option of video calls on our new iPad to keep you in touch with your resident.
Residents who have had iPad video calls already with their family or friends have been very positive and we have found they often respond better to seeing their caller, than on the telephone. Residents say the volume is loud enough and staff are able to assist where necessary in operating the device for the resident. We have bookings available through Reception during business hours.
It has been our practice to postponed visits, when we have a resident meeting the criteria for testing until results are cleared. All good now.
Following advice from Department of Health and the Victorian State Government pushing ahead with the reopening of the state, we will be implementing temperature testing of visitors ongoing, as an additional precaution. This includes where you have visits in the Airlock with the screen. This will begin from today. We have a contactless thermometer for this purpose.
Staff temperature testing continues to happen every shift, with residents temperature tested daily if we have a resident in isolation with Covid-type symptoms.
We continue to discourage visitors from attending if they are unwell.
During the last week, residents have enjoyed a visit from the Ice-Cream Cart, which is a firm monthly favourite!
Please see our Lifestyle page for more photos! We are updating these all the time with new Activities our residents have been up to.
Barb. Jardine - Acting CEO
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Scheduled visiting has commenced again, after being postponed since last Thursday night. Thank you for your patience.
Family members can now ring in again and book a time to have a catch up with their loved ones.
It is worth mentioning that when the facility must cancel physical visits, we now have the option of video calls on our new iPad to keep you in touch with your resident.
Residents who have had iPad video calls already with their family or friends have been very positive and we have found they often respond better to seeing their caller, than on the telephone. Residents say the volume is loud enough and staff are able to assist where necessary in operating the device for the resident. We have bookings available through Reception during business hours.
It has been our practice to postponed visits, when we have a resident meeting the criteria for testing until results are cleared. All good now.
Following advice from Department of Health and the Victorian State Government pushing ahead with the reopening of the state, we will be implementing temperature testing of visitors ongoing, as an additional precaution. This includes where you have visits in the Airlock with the screen. This will begin from today. We have a contactless thermometer for this purpose.
Staff temperature testing continues to happen every shift, with residents temperature tested daily if we have a resident in isolation with Covid-type symptoms.
We continue to discourage visitors from attending if they are unwell.
During the last week, residents have enjoyed a visit from the Ice-Cream Cart, which is a firm monthly favourite!
Please see our Lifestyle page for more photos! We are updating these all the time with new Activities our residents have been up to.
Barb. Jardine - Acting CEO
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 21/05/2020 - ALL VISITS ARE TEMPORARILY CANCELLED. If you have any concerns please contact the RN on (03)5352 2654 or 0437 631 417.
Updated 14th May 2020
With recent announcements to ease some restrictions out in the community for people, there will be no change to our current arrangement, not at least until the end of May.
We are guided somewhat by the Department of Health’s advice.
Last week for 3 days we postponed our visits, due to a resident placed in isolation, who met the criteria to be tested for COVID-19, results came back Tuesday negative.
I apologise to family and friends for the re-scheduling of those visits, and thank you for your patience.
All's good now, more so on Sunday – when Mother’s were celebrated, with many family and friends slotting in appointments to have a catch up.
On Sunday morning, residents were greeted with flowers and chocolates at their breakfast tables to celebrate Mother's Day. A big thanks to our Ladies Auxiliary.
I wish I could tell you how long we will be doing this for, but I can’t, and the well being of our residents is our priority.
All residents are coping well, thanks to our Leisure and Lifestyle staff, who keep them involved with a variety of activities to attend. There are photos from some of our recent activities here.
We encourage families to stay in contact with residents by their personal phone where possible, and as of Monday 18th May 2020, we will have our iPad operating!
We only have the one iPad available, so we will need to schedule any video calls, to avoid others being interrupted by your incoming call.
Please phone Reception on (03)5352 2654 to book a time for your relative to use the iPad.
Please keep in mind we have potentially 60 residents, who may like to take video calls with friends and relatives, so please keep calls to 20 minutes maximum at the moment. This time may be increased as restrictions start to ease more and more in-person visits are allowed in the future.
There are a number of apps you can use to contact residents, including:
Zoom: Download the app for Android or Apple
Facetime: Can only be used by someone with another Apple device such as an iPad or an iPhone, etc.
Our email address to Facetime contact is: [email protected]
Skype: ARVresidents
Also, for residents who don't have a phone, or who cannot use it without assistance, we ask you to call the Village Mobile on 0437 631 417 - not Reception - and the phone will be taken to your resident.
The mobile is being carried by the RNs and will also be used by them to take calls regarding a resident's welfare or care, by relatives. After 4.30pm the mobile will be answered by the in-charge person.
We also have the Duo app available on this mobile phone for video calls with residents and their relative.
Barb. Jardine – Acting CEO
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
With recent announcements to ease some restrictions out in the community for people, there will be no change to our current arrangement, not at least until the end of May.
We are guided somewhat by the Department of Health’s advice.
Last week for 3 days we postponed our visits, due to a resident placed in isolation, who met the criteria to be tested for COVID-19, results came back Tuesday negative.
I apologise to family and friends for the re-scheduling of those visits, and thank you for your patience.
All's good now, more so on Sunday – when Mother’s were celebrated, with many family and friends slotting in appointments to have a catch up.
On Sunday morning, residents were greeted with flowers and chocolates at their breakfast tables to celebrate Mother's Day. A big thanks to our Ladies Auxiliary.
I wish I could tell you how long we will be doing this for, but I can’t, and the well being of our residents is our priority.
All residents are coping well, thanks to our Leisure and Lifestyle staff, who keep them involved with a variety of activities to attend. There are photos from some of our recent activities here.
We encourage families to stay in contact with residents by their personal phone where possible, and as of Monday 18th May 2020, we will have our iPad operating!
We only have the one iPad available, so we will need to schedule any video calls, to avoid others being interrupted by your incoming call.
Please phone Reception on (03)5352 2654 to book a time for your relative to use the iPad.
Please keep in mind we have potentially 60 residents, who may like to take video calls with friends and relatives, so please keep calls to 20 minutes maximum at the moment. This time may be increased as restrictions start to ease more and more in-person visits are allowed in the future.
There are a number of apps you can use to contact residents, including:
Zoom: Download the app for Android or Apple
Facetime: Can only be used by someone with another Apple device such as an iPad or an iPhone, etc.
Our email address to Facetime contact is: [email protected]
Skype: ARVresidents
Also, for residents who don't have a phone, or who cannot use it without assistance, we ask you to call the Village Mobile on 0437 631 417 - not Reception - and the phone will be taken to your resident.
The mobile is being carried by the RNs and will also be used by them to take calls regarding a resident's welfare or care, by relatives. After 4.30pm the mobile will be answered by the in-charge person.
We also have the Duo app available on this mobile phone for video calls with residents and their relative.
Barb. Jardine – Acting CEO
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 4th May 2020.
Firstly, thanks to our exceptional staff at Gorrinn Village for the great job they are all doing to assist and care for our wonderful residents during these times.
Thank you to the relatives and friendly visitors for your patience and assistance with our visiting program, with this in place it is enabling residents to have a visit from another friendly face and they don’t feel too isolated from loved ones and friends.
Children under 16 wishing to visit their relative will be assessed case by case, example where a resident is in palliative care, but they must have evidence of having received a flu vaccination.
There may be changes from the visiting program in the way of re-scheduling of appointments, when we may have a resident that meets the criteria for mandatory testing. When this takes place a resident may need to be isolated until test results are clear, usually 24 – 48 hours. We have direct care staff that only care for those resident’s needs while in isolation, a bit like a personal ‘butler’.
As of 1st May when all scheduled visits are made, people will be asked if they have had this years flu vaccination and to provide evidence of such. This is a mandatory requirement for all Aged Care facilities.
For families wishing further information a fact sheet is available (below) for COVID 19 – visiting restrictions on the Australian Government Department of Health website.
Barb. Jardine – Acting CEO
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Firstly, thanks to our exceptional staff at Gorrinn Village for the great job they are all doing to assist and care for our wonderful residents during these times.
Thank you to the relatives and friendly visitors for your patience and assistance with our visiting program, with this in place it is enabling residents to have a visit from another friendly face and they don’t feel too isolated from loved ones and friends.
Children under 16 wishing to visit their relative will be assessed case by case, example where a resident is in palliative care, but they must have evidence of having received a flu vaccination.
There may be changes from the visiting program in the way of re-scheduling of appointments, when we may have a resident that meets the criteria for mandatory testing. When this takes place a resident may need to be isolated until test results are clear, usually 24 – 48 hours. We have direct care staff that only care for those resident’s needs while in isolation, a bit like a personal ‘butler’.
As of 1st May when all scheduled visits are made, people will be asked if they have had this years flu vaccination and to provide evidence of such. This is a mandatory requirement for all Aged Care facilities.
For families wishing further information a fact sheet is available (below) for COVID 19 – visiting restrictions on the Australian Government Department of Health website.
Barb. Jardine – Acting CEO
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated 24/04/2020
Gorrinn Village has not at any time confined residents to their rooms or kept them apart from each other. Unless there was an actual outbreak there is no valid reason to do that.
Therefore, the life of our residents within the facility has continued as normal which has greatly reduced the impact of the restrictions for them. The only change has been the absence of excursions and outside entertainers. This has led to some very creative events with the “plane trips’ to far flung destinations – complete with boarding passes and in flight drinks have been a huge success - (maybe it was the drinks.) Last week’s happy hour attendees were entertained by a spectacular demonstration of dance moves by resident Ross and staff member Sue – complete with walking frame. It had to be seen to be believed - and can never be unseen unfortunately.
With regard to visitors, we have constantly refined our system. We had an initial exclusion for a couple of weeks at the beginning of all this in order to make sure we had plans and equipment in place in case we needed it. For the last 3 weeks we have accommodated visitors- firstly by using “window” visits and this week a purpose designed indoor private space that we think meets the twin goals of providing the comfort of a visit with meeting the Victorian Health Directive for residential care. This would be far harder to do if the visits took place in individual rooms and would require more stringent infection control measures. Asking visitors to wear masks would only distress some residents. It is also difficult to hear what someone says when wearing a mask, nor can you see them smile which is a big drawback, I think. What the Prime Minister said about visits being in a resident’s room was about them NOT taking place in communal areas rather than the only option.
Of course, it isn’t only residential aged care residents and their families who are not visiting each other. Staff and the general public aren’t seeing grandchildren or celebrating birthdays or anything else. We are all in this together.
We are, of course, flexible. We had a resident needing end of life care last week and her family stayed with her for the whole time. We simply found a way for them to get in and out of the building without encountering other residents. There is no problem that doesn’t have a solution.
We are taking appointments for our visitor’s room. Residents are able to have two visitors for a total of 2 hours per day between 9am and 4pm but we would encourage everyone to remain at home as much as possible and to remember that there are 60 residents. As you don’t have the same things to occupy yourselves during the visit that you may in a resident’s room you are welcome to bring magazines, or photos or whatever you want to share with the resident. Also, you can ask for staff to fetch a photo album or something else from their room.
There are some screening questions and of course after May 1st there is a requirement to have a 2020 flu vaccination which will require proof. If you have a medically diagnosed reason for being unable to have the vaccination please contact us and we will figure something out.
We are incredibly lucky with the way this pandemic has been managed in Australia. In country areas like Ararat we are particularly lucky and we aim to keep it that way. However, it also gives us an opportunity to be more flexible.
The state of emergency is in place until May 11th at this stage. If it is relaxed - we may look at moving to an individual visitor risk assessment approach – especially for those regular visitors who live in Ararat. Details will be published when/if that occurs.
If you feel our current measures are too harsh or you wish further clarification please contact me to discuss your particular needs. I would hate to think anyone was unhappy and not telling us.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Gorrinn Village has not at any time confined residents to their rooms or kept them apart from each other. Unless there was an actual outbreak there is no valid reason to do that.
Therefore, the life of our residents within the facility has continued as normal which has greatly reduced the impact of the restrictions for them. The only change has been the absence of excursions and outside entertainers. This has led to some very creative events with the “plane trips’ to far flung destinations – complete with boarding passes and in flight drinks have been a huge success - (maybe it was the drinks.) Last week’s happy hour attendees were entertained by a spectacular demonstration of dance moves by resident Ross and staff member Sue – complete with walking frame. It had to be seen to be believed - and can never be unseen unfortunately.
With regard to visitors, we have constantly refined our system. We had an initial exclusion for a couple of weeks at the beginning of all this in order to make sure we had plans and equipment in place in case we needed it. For the last 3 weeks we have accommodated visitors- firstly by using “window” visits and this week a purpose designed indoor private space that we think meets the twin goals of providing the comfort of a visit with meeting the Victorian Health Directive for residential care. This would be far harder to do if the visits took place in individual rooms and would require more stringent infection control measures. Asking visitors to wear masks would only distress some residents. It is also difficult to hear what someone says when wearing a mask, nor can you see them smile which is a big drawback, I think. What the Prime Minister said about visits being in a resident’s room was about them NOT taking place in communal areas rather than the only option.
Of course, it isn’t only residential aged care residents and their families who are not visiting each other. Staff and the general public aren’t seeing grandchildren or celebrating birthdays or anything else. We are all in this together.
We are, of course, flexible. We had a resident needing end of life care last week and her family stayed with her for the whole time. We simply found a way for them to get in and out of the building without encountering other residents. There is no problem that doesn’t have a solution.
We are taking appointments for our visitor’s room. Residents are able to have two visitors for a total of 2 hours per day between 9am and 4pm but we would encourage everyone to remain at home as much as possible and to remember that there are 60 residents. As you don’t have the same things to occupy yourselves during the visit that you may in a resident’s room you are welcome to bring magazines, or photos or whatever you want to share with the resident. Also, you can ask for staff to fetch a photo album or something else from their room.
There are some screening questions and of course after May 1st there is a requirement to have a 2020 flu vaccination which will require proof. If you have a medically diagnosed reason for being unable to have the vaccination please contact us and we will figure something out.
We are incredibly lucky with the way this pandemic has been managed in Australia. In country areas like Ararat we are particularly lucky and we aim to keep it that way. However, it also gives us an opportunity to be more flexible.
The state of emergency is in place until May 11th at this stage. If it is relaxed - we may look at moving to an individual visitor risk assessment approach – especially for those regular visitors who live in Ararat. Details will be published when/if that occurs.
If you feel our current measures are too harsh or you wish further clarification please contact me to discuss your particular needs. I would hate to think anyone was unhappy and not telling us.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 20/04/2020
Welcome to the April 20th update.
Our residents are all well and happy.
We are modifying our “window” visits.
As we have no idea how long restrictions will be in place, we felt we needed a more efficient and sustainable solution.
The Doctor’s surgery was ok for the resident, but the people outside found it hard to see past the reflection as well as the flyscreen. It was also pretty cold outside.
From Tuesday, we will be using what we call the “Airlock” – the mini-foyer between the automatic doors and the interior of the building. A table will divide the space with a Perspex screen on it.
Visitors will enter from the outside, sanitise hands, then turn the key to stop the automatic doors functioning and press the doorbell. The resident will be brought in from the foyer.
Please understand that this setup will require visitors to have had the 2020 Influenza Vaccination after May 1st 2020, and screening questions will still be asked.
Anyone not vaccinated will still be able to have the original “window” visits from outside the automatic doors, but in order to hear each other, phones will probably need to be used as well.
An iPad for resident use has been ordered, and we are awaiting delivery.
From next week the usual twice yearly care report and Newsletter will be sent out. Please use this as an opportunity to make sure we have your current contact details.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Welcome to the April 20th update.
Our residents are all well and happy.
We are modifying our “window” visits.
As we have no idea how long restrictions will be in place, we felt we needed a more efficient and sustainable solution.
The Doctor’s surgery was ok for the resident, but the people outside found it hard to see past the reflection as well as the flyscreen. It was also pretty cold outside.
From Tuesday, we will be using what we call the “Airlock” – the mini-foyer between the automatic doors and the interior of the building. A table will divide the space with a Perspex screen on it.
Visitors will enter from the outside, sanitise hands, then turn the key to stop the automatic doors functioning and press the doorbell. The resident will be brought in from the foyer.
Please understand that this setup will require visitors to have had the 2020 Influenza Vaccination after May 1st 2020, and screening questions will still be asked.
Anyone not vaccinated will still be able to have the original “window” visits from outside the automatic doors, but in order to hear each other, phones will probably need to be used as well.
An iPad for resident use has been ordered, and we are awaiting delivery.
From next week the usual twice yearly care report and Newsletter will be sent out. Please use this as an opportunity to make sure we have your current contact details.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 06/04/2020
We commenced "window visiting" last Wednesday and several people have taken advantage of it. Obviously the weather will affect this as we move into the colder months. Initially we tried using the resident's own rooms, but without shelter or car park access to some it didn't work out. We then tried using one of the sun rooms, but that wasn't very private and meant displacing other residents. As of today, we are using the Doctor's Surgery. This is relatively sheltered and quite private.
There are times when this room won't be be available, as doctors are using it. Those times are 10.30am to 12noon on Mondays (except public holidays), 9am to 10.30am on Wednesdays and 2pm to 3.30pm on Thursdays.
It is worth explaining why we have decided to exclude visitors, rather than the very limited visiting regime currently permitted. Our premise is that if only staff have contact with residents - and they obviously cannot socially distance themselves - then residents can retain most of their usual way of life within the facility.
If we allow visitors, even strictly controlled, we are adding another layer of risk. It isn't just the visitor themselves, but all their contacts in an expanding ripple effect. That would mean that residents would need to be more isolated from each other than currently, in case a visitor had been asymptomatic, but contagious, when inside the facility.
As this is a long haul, it is in the resident's best interests to try and keep their daily lives as normal as possible. Staff are being extremely vigilant and conscientious about reporting every ailment from top to toe - literally.
With the expanded testing criteria, we have had a small number of staff tested based on clinical symptoms - all negative - and for those who suggested that staff should have their temperature checked, not one of the staff tested presented with a temperature, yet they had at least one acute respiratory symptom, so temperature checking would have given a false sense of security.
For Window Visit Bookings contact Reception on 5352 2654.
To talk to the RN use the mobile number 0437 631 417.
We hope to have Facetime and Skype operational this week.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
We commenced "window visiting" last Wednesday and several people have taken advantage of it. Obviously the weather will affect this as we move into the colder months. Initially we tried using the resident's own rooms, but without shelter or car park access to some it didn't work out. We then tried using one of the sun rooms, but that wasn't very private and meant displacing other residents. As of today, we are using the Doctor's Surgery. This is relatively sheltered and quite private.
There are times when this room won't be be available, as doctors are using it. Those times are 10.30am to 12noon on Mondays (except public holidays), 9am to 10.30am on Wednesdays and 2pm to 3.30pm on Thursdays.
It is worth explaining why we have decided to exclude visitors, rather than the very limited visiting regime currently permitted. Our premise is that if only staff have contact with residents - and they obviously cannot socially distance themselves - then residents can retain most of their usual way of life within the facility.
If we allow visitors, even strictly controlled, we are adding another layer of risk. It isn't just the visitor themselves, but all their contacts in an expanding ripple effect. That would mean that residents would need to be more isolated from each other than currently, in case a visitor had been asymptomatic, but contagious, when inside the facility.
As this is a long haul, it is in the resident's best interests to try and keep their daily lives as normal as possible. Staff are being extremely vigilant and conscientious about reporting every ailment from top to toe - literally.
With the expanded testing criteria, we have had a small number of staff tested based on clinical symptoms - all negative - and for those who suggested that staff should have their temperature checked, not one of the staff tested presented with a temperature, yet they had at least one acute respiratory symptom, so temperature checking would have given a false sense of security.
For Window Visit Bookings contact Reception on 5352 2654.
To talk to the RN use the mobile number 0437 631 417.
We hope to have Facetime and Skype operational this week.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 30/03/2020
Gorrinn Village has decided to continue to exclude all persons from entering the facility with the exception of staff, and relatives in special circumstances only.
Instead of visiting within the facility we are moving to “window visits”.
If a special circumstance arises, then that visitor would need to abide by the conditions set by the Dept of Health and the facility as listed below.
Bearing in mind that ALL Australians are supposed to be staying home as much as possible we strongly urge that you keep any visits, including the dropping off of parcels to residents to a minimum. It is no longer just about protecting the residents but adhering to the restrictions that have been put in place for all of us.
We encourage you to use technology rather than physical visits – however if a physical visit is necessary for the resident’s well-being the following applies.
We will use the windows of the residents’ own rooms as much as possible.
Where a resident’s window is not accessible from the grounds – such as opening onto an internal courtyard – or is impractically located - we have designated a particular area for the visit.
If the weather is poor there will be an alternative location provided.
These visits will still need to be organized by phone prior to arrival and will be subject to conditions.
They are:
Now that there is some community transmission of the virus the main risk to our residents is contact with people from outside.
At present that is limited to staff.
All our staff are acutely aware of, and practicing health self-assessment and keeping their own contacts outside work to a minimum to protect our residents.
Aged care staff are now being tested if they have so much as sneezed in the last year (only a slight exaggeration) and then being excluded until test results are obtained.
So we are doing everything we can.
We urge all our relatives to do likewise, to keep safe and thank you for your patience.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Gorrinn Village has decided to continue to exclude all persons from entering the facility with the exception of staff, and relatives in special circumstances only.
Instead of visiting within the facility we are moving to “window visits”.
If a special circumstance arises, then that visitor would need to abide by the conditions set by the Dept of Health and the facility as listed below.
Bearing in mind that ALL Australians are supposed to be staying home as much as possible we strongly urge that you keep any visits, including the dropping off of parcels to residents to a minimum. It is no longer just about protecting the residents but adhering to the restrictions that have been put in place for all of us.
We encourage you to use technology rather than physical visits – however if a physical visit is necessary for the resident’s well-being the following applies.
We will use the windows of the residents’ own rooms as much as possible.
Where a resident’s window is not accessible from the grounds – such as opening onto an internal courtyard – or is impractically located - we have designated a particular area for the visit.
If the weather is poor there will be an alternative location provided.
These visits will still need to be organized by phone prior to arrival and will be subject to conditions.
They are:
- Not visiting even outside the window - if you have returned from overseas in the last 14 days. (Unlikely now due to enforced quarantine.)
- Not visiting if you have been in contact with a confirmed Covid 19 case in the last 14 days.
- Not visiting if you have a fever or ANY symptoms of an acute respiratory illness.
- Visitors will still be asked about this even though they are not entering the facility.
- Window visitors will need to ensure they keep the window between themselves and the room.
- Physical contact or the passing of objects through the window is not permitted.
- As our windows open outwards from the bottom they form a good barrier between the person outside and the room while allowing sound to pass fairly easily.
- Visitors will be required to practice social distancing from other visitors.
- As you will be sitting outside, I suggest you dress appropriately.
Now that there is some community transmission of the virus the main risk to our residents is contact with people from outside.
At present that is limited to staff.
All our staff are acutely aware of, and practicing health self-assessment and keeping their own contacts outside work to a minimum to protect our residents.
Aged care staff are now being tested if they have so much as sneezed in the last year (only a slight exaggeration) and then being excluded until test results are obtained.
So we are doing everything we can.
We urge all our relatives to do likewise, to keep safe and thank you for your patience.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 23/03/2020
We are now almost 1 week into our voluntary 2 week visitor exclusion.
This has been a ‘breather” for both the facility to get our plans in place and also to give relatives some space to get their lives in order for what promises to be a long haul.
After the 2 weeks finishes on 31st March we will move to the restrictions that the federal government has put in place for residential aged care. While they may have changed by then, as of today they include:
Exclusions
Anyone who has returned to Australia from anywhere in the previous 14 days
Anyone who has had contact in the last 14 days with a confirmed case of Covid 19.
Anyone who is unwell with a fever or acute respiratory symptoms such as sore throat, cough or breathing problems.
Any child under 16
From May 1st anyone who has not had the Influenza vaccination.
Visiting Conditions
Only 2 visitors (non-employees) in the building at any one time
Visits to be of short duration – unspecified but be mindful of the need to give others a chance to visit as well.
Each visit restricted to specific resident.
Visits to take place in the resident’s room or in the grounds only.
Social distancing to be enforced within the resident’s room - 1.5 meters.
There will also be a screening process that potential visitors have to undergo and we are still working out how to actually schedule visits.
I will update you on that when we figure it out.
General News
Our residents are all coping well with the restrictions so far and are enjoying the new activities we have commenced to replace incoming entertainment.
We are as well prepared as we can be for an outbreak and alert for any illness. This will become more difficult as we move into cold and flu season as neither of those illnesses have disappeared just because of Covid 19 and colds especially happen regardless of restrictions.
There has been a viral laryngitis going around Ararat for the last few weeks with people losing their voices (not me you will be sorry to hear) but who are otherwise well. Unfortunately in these hyper-vigilant times no-one is game to so much as sneeze without heads whipping round, let alone sound croaky.
Some of our residents have had face to face specialist medical appointments converted to phone consults which works well. Others don’t lend themselves to that alternative but we are keeping those to absolutely essential ones only.
I know you are all suffering from information overload, some of which is contradictory, and some downright dangerous. I would ask that you source your information from the State and Federal Departments of Health and ignore gossip, speculation and conspiracy theories. If you have questions feel free to phone and we will endeavour to answer them for you, or point you in the right direction.
I would like to also thank you for your support and kind words during this difficult time.
The instructions for contacting staff or residents who don’t have a phone, or who are unable to use one are unchanged – see below.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
We are now almost 1 week into our voluntary 2 week visitor exclusion.
This has been a ‘breather” for both the facility to get our plans in place and also to give relatives some space to get their lives in order for what promises to be a long haul.
After the 2 weeks finishes on 31st March we will move to the restrictions that the federal government has put in place for residential aged care. While they may have changed by then, as of today they include:
Exclusions
Anyone who has returned to Australia from anywhere in the previous 14 days
Anyone who has had contact in the last 14 days with a confirmed case of Covid 19.
Anyone who is unwell with a fever or acute respiratory symptoms such as sore throat, cough or breathing problems.
Any child under 16
From May 1st anyone who has not had the Influenza vaccination.
Visiting Conditions
Only 2 visitors (non-employees) in the building at any one time
Visits to be of short duration – unspecified but be mindful of the need to give others a chance to visit as well.
Each visit restricted to specific resident.
Visits to take place in the resident’s room or in the grounds only.
Social distancing to be enforced within the resident’s room - 1.5 meters.
There will also be a screening process that potential visitors have to undergo and we are still working out how to actually schedule visits.
I will update you on that when we figure it out.
General News
Our residents are all coping well with the restrictions so far and are enjoying the new activities we have commenced to replace incoming entertainment.
We are as well prepared as we can be for an outbreak and alert for any illness. This will become more difficult as we move into cold and flu season as neither of those illnesses have disappeared just because of Covid 19 and colds especially happen regardless of restrictions.
There has been a viral laryngitis going around Ararat for the last few weeks with people losing their voices (not me you will be sorry to hear) but who are otherwise well. Unfortunately in these hyper-vigilant times no-one is game to so much as sneeze without heads whipping round, let alone sound croaky.
Some of our residents have had face to face specialist medical appointments converted to phone consults which works well. Others don’t lend themselves to that alternative but we are keeping those to absolutely essential ones only.
I know you are all suffering from information overload, some of which is contradictory, and some downright dangerous. I would ask that you source your information from the State and Federal Departments of Health and ignore gossip, speculation and conspiracy theories. If you have questions feel free to phone and we will endeavour to answer them for you, or point you in the right direction.
I would like to also thank you for your support and kind words during this difficult time.
The instructions for contacting staff or residents who don’t have a phone, or who are unable to use one are unchanged – see below.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
For more information from the Department of Health - Click here
Updated: 19/03/2020
The information displayed here will be updated as necessary so please check back regularly.
Gorrinn Village is currently excluding all visitors except in special circumstances from March 17th 2020 until March 31st 2020.
During that time we will continue to contact relatives as we normally would if residents see a doctor, have a fall or have any health issue.
Contacting Residents:
We encourage families to stay in contact with residents by their personal phone where possible.
For residents who don't have a phone or who cannot use it without assistance, we ask you to call the Village Mobile on 0437 631 417 - not Reception - and the phone will be taken to your relative.
The mobile is being carried by the RNs and will also be used by them to take calls regarding a resident's welfare or care by relatives.
Please be mindful of the demand on the RNs time when phoning.
After 4.30pm the mobile will be answered by the person in charge, whoever that is.
Once again, please keep calls short.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN
The information displayed here will be updated as necessary so please check back regularly.
Gorrinn Village is currently excluding all visitors except in special circumstances from March 17th 2020 until March 31st 2020.
During that time we will continue to contact relatives as we normally would if residents see a doctor, have a fall or have any health issue.
Contacting Residents:
We encourage families to stay in contact with residents by their personal phone where possible.
For residents who don't have a phone or who cannot use it without assistance, we ask you to call the Village Mobile on 0437 631 417 - not Reception - and the phone will be taken to your relative.
The mobile is being carried by the RNs and will also be used by them to take calls regarding a resident's welfare or care by relatives.
Please be mindful of the demand on the RNs time when phoning.
After 4.30pm the mobile will be answered by the person in charge, whoever that is.
Once again, please keep calls short.
- Robyn Woods-Gebler, CEO/RN