The peak body is urging “open communication” by aged care providers following Tuesday’s Senate enquiry which heard some smaller providers with COVID outbreaks did not want their details released because of “reputational risks”, to quote Aged Care Minister Senator Richard Colbeck.
The Guild – which represents eight large private aged care operators – issued a statement to say its members will continue to communicate COVID-19 cases in their homes to residents, families, employees and relevant authorities.
I spoke to Acting CEO Nicholas Brown. He pointed out there has only been one case of a provider (St. Basil’s) failing to report an outbreak to the Department of Health and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), but says the Guild would support a publicly available list of aged care homes with a COVID-19 outbreak.
He says a daily list of affected homes would have been helpful for providers, particularly in the early days of the pandemic when some staff were working across multiple sites, to help prevent the spread of the virus.
“This is not about ‘naming and shaming’,” he said, noting that the majority of the Victorian outbreaks have involved a single positive case with no further spread.
“This is about keeping the sector and the community up to date with what’s happening.”
Nicholas says the Guild is now speaking to the Commonwealth and the States and Territories about how the principles of one worker for one site could be rolled out across the country.
He cited a US study that showed this reduced the risk of COVID entering a facility by 44%, but added that it would need Commonwealth support to ensure – like Victoria – no worker was worse off.
Will the Government see the value in funding such a scheme given the Victorian experience?
