Hospital Discharge and Provision of Commonwealth Home Support to COVID Patients
The Department of Health is aware there is high demand for Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) services and that some providers have limited capacity to take on new referrals, which can impact timely hospital discharge for some clients. Where possible, the department is seeking your assistance to provide timely community-based aged care supports to clients who are being discharged from hospital.
Where providers incur additional costs in supporting increased hospital discharges, they can apply for funding under the CHSP Emergency Support for COVID-19 Ad Hoc Round (GO3877) on the GrantConnect website.
CHSP providers are also reminded that when a client is either suspected or confirmed with COVID-19, these clients should only be recommended for hospital admission where there is a genuine need for higher level clinical or medical supports. Where admission does not occur, CHSP providers are expected to continue service delivery and have appropriate COVID-19 procedures in place to protect their staff and clients.
CHSP providers must continue to follow state and territory restrictions and guidelines to ensure the safe delivery of essential aged care services and protect their employees, volunteers and clients.
FREE 1-2-1 Sessions with an Emergency/Crisis Management Practitioner
A reminder that FREE 1-2-1 sessions with an emergency/crisis management practitioner are now available throughout December 2021, under the Aged Care Emergency and Crisis Management Training Program.
This is a valuable opportunity for you to work with an experienced emergency/crisis management professional to receive tailored guidance specific to your organisation’s unique circumstances.
The sessions will leverage First5/RiskLogic’s significant crisis management expertise to help better prepare your organisation to maintain delivery of safe and quality care in challenging situations. They will build on the foundational theory presented in the online training, as well as the Resilience Policy and Framework content covered in the group mentoring webinars to date.
The number of sessions are limited. First5/RiskLogic will be inviting those who have completed over 50 per cent of the online training modules to register for the 1-2-1 mentoring on a first-come, first‑serve basis.
For those yet to register for or complete the FREE online modules – it’s not too late!
You can still visit the RiskLogic website to find further information and sign-up, with this training continuing to be available until 23 December 2021.
SA Health – updated flowchart for COVID Management in RACFs
A key component of the SA Health COVID-19 Strategy for Residential Aged Care Facilities has been updated, the COVID-19 Guideline for Management in Residential Aged Care Facilities flowchart is now available as a stand-alone document.
The COVID-19 Strategy for Residential Aged Care Facilities is a guide for individual Residential Aged Care Facilities in the prevention, preparation, management and recovery stages of responding to COVID-19 situations in South Australia. This document is currently being updated, and the new version and additional fact sheets will be available shortly.
Further information about COVID-19 in Aged Care settings is available on the SA Health website.
Webinars: My Aged Care Reporting and Home Care and CHSP Vaccination
Vaccination is one of our most important defences against COVID-19 to protect senior Australians living at home and in the community, and the critical workforce who care for them.
The aged care sector is at the forefront of protection and is publicly demonstrating this commitment through reporting of workforce COVID-19 vaccination.
Over the coming weeks, the Staff Vaccination Support Service (SVSS) will be running two FREE webinars to support providers with worker vaccinations and the reporting of them.
The SVSS project is led by Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) and Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA).
My Aged Care Reporting – Virtual Tour of Vaccination Reporting
Friday 3 December 2021, 12-1pm AEDT – Register Now
My Aged Care captures information on overall staff, the number of workers who have received a single or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and the number of workers with authorised exemptions under public health directions.
Home and CHSP is a complex environment of providers, sub-contractors and brokered services. Ensuring this reporting is accurate and a reflection of the effort of both providers and workers is essential to offer confidence to all.
In this webinar attendees will be given an overview of workforce vaccination requirements and a virtual guided tour of My Aged Care as the repository of data. It will include information about what to include, where, when and how.
Who should attend?
CEOs, service managers for home, staff responsible for My Aged Care reporting for Home Care, CHSP and residential aged care providers.
Speakers
- Jane Bacot-Kilpatrick, SVSS Project Manager, LASA
- Cathy Haffner, Director, Aged Care COVID-19 Vaccine Branch
- Ben Cooper, My Aged Care
- Danielle Winzenried Policy & Member Support Officer, State Manager (WA) ACSA.
#ProudToProtect – Home Care and CHSP Worker Vaccination
Thursday 9 December 2021, 12-1pm AEDT – Register Now
In this webinar attendees will be given an overview of workforce vaccination requirements in the National Framework from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and how these are presented through the state and territory public health orders and how workers are prioritised for access to vaccine and can evidence their vaccination status to the provider.
There are a number of grants available to support providers and an overview of these Home Care and CHSP grant opportunities to assist providers to support workforce vaccination will be given. This will include details of what funding is available for and how to apply.
Who should attend?
CEOs, service managers, HR and finance managers.
Speakers
- Jane Bacot-Kilpatrick, SVSS Project Manager, LASA
- Lisa Peterson, Assistant Secretary, Aged Care COVID-19 Vaccine Branch, Department of Health
- Russell Herald, Assistant Secretary, Home Support Operations, Department of Health.
REMINDER: WA and TAS webinars for in-home and community aged care workers
To support in-home and community aged care workers in Western Australia and Tasmania, two special live webinars are scheduled for next week on mandatory COVID-19 vaccination.
The webinars will support Western Australian and Tasmanian in-home and community aged care workers, including students on placement, volunteers and subcontractors, to:
- find out more about their state public health direction on mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for in-home and community aged care workers and how it applies to them
- get information about COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine safety
- find out how to access a priority COVID-19 vaccination.
The free webinars will have a live Q&A discussion to answer questions workers might have on COVID-19 vaccination and on public health directions for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for in-home and community aged care workers.
Western Australia
Tuesday, 30 November 2021 from 1:00pm – 2:00pm AWST (WA time)
Chaired by Frances Rice, Senior Nursing and Midwifery Advisor, Department of Health
Panellists include:
- Dr Clare Huppatz, Deputy Chief Health Officer, Public and Aboriginal Health Division, WA Department of Health
- Cathy Haffner, Director, Aged Care COVID-19 Vaccine, Department of Health
- Russell Herald, Assistant Secretary, Home Support Operations, Department of Health
- Rebecca Richardson, Assistant Secretary, Home Care and Assessments Branch, Department of Health
- Union Representative.
Join by personal device or computer:
https://health-au.webex.com/health-au/j.php?MTID=m286692fde117ccb3a42342a51bfe6f82
Event number: 2650 113 5555
Event password: 9876 (9876 from phones)
Join by phone
+61-2-9338-2221 Australia Toll
Access code: 265 011 35555
Tasmania
Wednesday 1 December 2021 from 10:00am – 11:00am AEDT (TAS time)
Chaired by Frances Rice, Senior Nursing and Midwifery Advisor, Department of Health.
Panellists include:
- Dr Katarzyna Clarke, Public Health Medical Officer, Tasmanian Vaccination Emergency Operations Centre (TVEOC), Tasmanian Department of Health
- Graeme Lodge, Communications Manager, Aged Care Emergency Operations Centre (ACEOC), Tasmanian Department of Health
- Vivek Foot, Aged Care Coordinator, Health and Community Services Union
- Cathy Haffner, Director, Aged Care COVID-19 Vaccine, Department of Health
- Russell Herald, Assistant Secretary, Home Support Operations, Department of Health
- Rebecca Richardson, Assistant Secretary, Home Care and Assessments Branch, Department of Health.
Join by personal device or computer:
https://health-au.webex.com/health-au/j.php?MTID=m66a8bc34db79124c3887c6f708a42011
Event number: 2654 423 5372
Event password: 9876 (9876 from phones)
Join by phone
+61-2-9338-2221 Australia Toll
Access code: 265 442 35372