National webinar for all residential aged care providers and facility management - Thurs 2 Sept 11am – 12noon (AEST)
A national webinar for residential aged care providers, facility executives and infection prevention and control leads will be held with the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck.
The webinar will address measures in place to support workforce COVID-19 vaccination, the status of vaccination levels of workers, and the vital role providers and facilities have in supporting workforce vaccination ahead of the 17 September deadline for mandatory vaccination in residential aged care.
Minister Colbeck will be joined by the following Commonwealth Department of Health representatives:
- Michael Lye, Deputy Secretary, Ageing and Aged Care Group
- Helen Grinbergs, First Assistant Secretary, Services Delivery Division
- Lisa Peterson, Assistant Secretary, COVID-19 Vaccine Aged Care
- Jacob Madden, A/g Assistant Secretary, Emergency Preparedness and Response
Join from the event link
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If required:
Event number: 2652 338 1988
Event password: pxGW83WP77h
Access code: 265 233 81988
Event password, if required: 79498397
Webinars for residential aged care workers on mandatory COVID-19 vaccination
NSW, ACT, NT and VIC residential aged care workers are invited to join webinars with Commonwealth, state and territory health officials, union representatives and clinicians this week – two weeks before a first dose becomes a condition of ongoing employment.
Expert panellists will answer questions from residential aged care workers on COVID-19 vaccination and the state and territory public health orders implementing mandatory vaccination in residential aged care.
The webinars will provide information about COVID-19 vaccines and how to access a priority jab ahead of 17 September when COVID-19 vaccination will become mandatory as a condition of employment.
NSW – Wed 1 September 2.30pm – 3:30pm (AEST)
Commonwealth Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd AM, will host a panel including:
- Stefanie Williams – Director, Aged Care, NSW Ministry of Health
- James Broughton – Principal Policy Officer, Aged Care, NSW Ministry of Health
- Sue Schasser – Director, Aged Care Operations, NSW State Health Emergency Operations Centre (SHEOC)
- Christine Stephens – Director, COVID-19 Vaccination Program, NSW SHEOC
- Lisa Peterson – Assistant Secretary, Commonwealth Department of Health
- Shaye Candish, Assistant Secretary, NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association
- Lauren Hutchins, Aged Care Divisional Secretary, Health Services Union (HSU)
If required:
Event number: 2653 580 4238
Event password: A6HtxUmCf46
Access code: 265 358 04238
If required:
Event password: 26489862
ACT – Fri 3 September 11am – 12 noon (AEST)
Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Adj. Professor Alison McMillan, will host a panel including:
- Charmaine Smith, Executive Branch Manager, COVID-19 Vaccine Program
- Tony Dombkins, ACT Chief Nurse and Midwifery Officer
- Nicole Jarvis, Commonwealth Department of Health State Manager – QLD and NT
- Sam Oram, Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation
- Lauren Hutchins, Aged Care Divisional Secretary, Health Services Union (HSU)
If required:
Event number: 2654 271 8787
Event password: myEQWbj2K53
Access code: 265 427 18787
If required: 69379252
NT – Fri 3 September 2pm – 3pm NT time (2:30pm –3:30pm AEST)
Commonwealth Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd AM, will host a panel including:
- Dr Danielle Esler, Senior Public Health Physician, Public Health and Clinical Excellence, NT Department of Health
- Assoc. Prof. Bhavini Patel, Executive Director of Medicines Management and COVID 19 immunisation lead, NT Department of Health
- Jane Davies, Director of Infectious Diseases, NT Department of Health
- Shereen Labib, Centre for Disease Control, NT Department of Health
- Nicole Jarvis, Commonwealth Department of Health State Manager – QLD and NT
- Cath Hatcher, Branch Secretary, Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation NT
- Lauren Hutchins, Aged Care Divisional Secretary, Health Services Union (HSU)
If required:
Event number: 2654 940 2680
Event password: MdMfWRpy957
Access code: 265 494 02680
Event password: 63639779
VIC – Mon 6 September 11am – 12pm (AEST)
Details coming soon! Please save the date.
Webinar: Employee Relations Implications and Considerations of Staff COVID Vaccinations
Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA) and Leading Aged Services Australia (LASA) are working together through the new Staff Vaccination Support Service to support residential aged care providers to respond to the mandate for COVID-19 vaccination for their staff.
ACSA and LASA’s Employee Relations (ER) teams, along with legal experts from Russell Kennedy Lawyers will unpack the employee and industrial relations (IR) implications surrounding aged care staff COVID vaccinations around Australia.
This webinar is for providers on how you can manage your workforce and obligations around COVID-19 vaccinations. There will also be plenty of time for Q&A.
Who should attend?
All executives and managers involved in managing the aged care workforce.
Speakers:
- ER/IR specialists, Russell Kennedy Lawyers
- Anna-Maria Wade, Manager Employee Relations, ACSA
- Claire Bailey, Manager Employment Relations, LASA
Date: Friday 3 September
Time:
11:00am – 12:30pm (AEST) – (NSW, ACT, QLD, VIC, TAS)
10.30am – 12.00pm (ACST) – (SA, NT)
9.00am – 10.30am (AWST) – (WA)
Venue: This webinar will be held via Zoom.
Registrations:
This webinar is free for all aged care providers. Registration is essential via Webinar: ER Implications and Considerations of Staff COVID Vaccinations – ACSA Events.
Access to residential aged care facilities by visitors
Providers of residential care are reminded they are expected to balance their responsibilities to reduce the risk of COVID-19 entering residential aged care facilities (RACFs) with their responsibilities for meeting the physical, social and emotional needs of residents.
This includes balancing compliance with local restrictions on movement in the community with allowing face to face visiting. All state restrictions allow visitors to enter RACF to deliver essential care and support or for compassionate reasons.
The Visitation Guidelines for Residential Aged Care Facilities provides guidance on who can be granted access and how this access should occur for example the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). It should be read in conjunction with the COVID-19 Escalation Tiers And Aged Care Provider Responses which provide guidance for aged care providers on actions (recommended or required) to be undertaken depending on the COVID-19 situation within the community.
Essential care persons, including spouses, regular social support people or those reflected in the Partnerships in Care model should be supported to comply with appropriate Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices. This could include training in IPC and the use of PPE.
- An essential care person is someone who has frequently and regularly visited a resident to provide aspects of care and companionship to that person.
- An essential care person is not a casual visitor, or visitor not providing an aspect of care, or visitor who the resident does not want to have assisting with their care.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), recommends that RACF staff should not be required to supervise visits, except during Tier 3 where visitors should be escorted to and from the resident’s room. However staff should promote compliance with COVID-19 prevention methods by:
- educating visitors on entry about practising social distancing and hygiene during their visit
- supporting application of required PPE
- placing signage throughout the facility to remind visitors to maintain these measures
- screening visitors on their current health status upon entry to ensure unwell visitors do not enter the facility
Many residential Aged Care residents have friends through the Community Visitors Scheme (CVS) who play an essential care role. RACF’s should support CVS visiting friends providing they meet these general restriction requirements. Where visits are not possible in person, contact by other means such as telephone, internet, letter etc should be facilitated by RACFs.
Developed by the aged care sector peaks, the Industry Code for Visiting Residential Aged Care Homes during COVID-19 (Industry Code) also provides guidance to aged care providers on visitation. The principles and approaches within the Industry Code should be considered in supporting the proportionate controls required to support safe visitation to aged care homes. Aged care service providers and visitors to RACFs must in the first instance comply with their local State/Territory Health Directive, where they supersede the Escalation Tiers in the Industry Code, noting there may be exemptions on compassionate ground.