Hall & Prior Action Anticipates New COVID-19 Precautions in Aged Care

Hall & Prior Action Anticipates New COVID-19 Precautions in Aged Care

Hall & Prior Health & Aged Care Group moved quickly this week to safeguard residents and staff from the potential spread of COVID-19, by implementing a lockdown ahead of Commonwealth Government recommendations on visitor restrictions.

All of our 25 of our aged care homes in Western Australia and New South Wales are now subject to the lockdown, which means that no non-essential staff or visitors are allowed into the home. We will revisit this decision in two weeks (Wednesday, April 1 2020).

The lockdown is designed specifically to help protect the 1,500 vulnerable Australians we care for as well as the staff who provide their care and their families.

Our new protective measures include:

• A lockdown of all our homes which took effect from 5pm, Wednesday, 18 March 2020, with no visitors or non-essential staff allowed on site, with a review of this decision in two weeks;
• Cancellation of all community visits to our homes and day trips out of our homes;
• Continued vigilance and adherence to Australian Government travel and isolation restrictions and the screening of all staff into our homes; and
• Extra use of Personal Protective Equipment in addition to our regular strict hygiene routine.

“Restricting our resident’s access to loved ones was not an easy decision to make,” Hall & Prior CEO Graeme Prior said.

“We are a family business and and we know how important it is for our residents to maintain regular routines and to connect to their family and friends.

“It was a tough call but ultimately the families of our residents rely on us to continue to provide the very best care and to protect their loved ones by taking every precaution we can.”

Mr Prior said the fact that the Federal Government decided soon after to recommend restricted visiting hours for all residential aged care facilities was a sensible move which he hoped would prove affective for all providers.

Hall & Prior currently has no cases of residents or staff with suspected or confirmed COVID-19; we are constantly changing and evolving our procedures and protocols to avoid infection and heightening our level of safety.

“By now there are very few of us who don’t know the risks that COVID-19 poses to the community and particularly to older people,” Mr Prior added.

“We have always had strict outbreak procedures and infection protocols in place, to keep our residents, staff and families safe.

“With COVID-19 we must be ready to adapt as needed, based on what we think is best for our residents and staff, and on the latest advice from health authorities and in accordance with guidelines issued by the Commonwealth Government, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and the Department of Health to reduce the possibility of virus exposure and spread.”