Minister for Aged Care Senator Richard Colbeck says the Department of Health, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC), NSW Health and Anglicare are working in lockstep to coordinate the staffing response to the outbreak at the Anglicare home.
The Minister stressed that the Department is fulfilling its promise to provide operators who experience outbreaks with a ‘surge’ workforce, with Anglicare given access to:
- Staff through the Mable online platform;
- An emergency response team through Aspen Medical, including a First Nurse Responder to assess the staffing requirements, Registered Nurses, allied health professionals and personal care workers; and
- A roster of General Practitioners.
“The Government has provided and is fast-tracking access to personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure the safety of residents and staff,” he said, adding that the Government has already provided training for aged care staff on outbreak management procedures which has been completed by staff at Newmarch.
“The protection of Senior Australians has never been more important,” he concluded.
Anglicare tells us that Newmarch House had a full complement of staff to care for our residents yesterday.
“We are grateful for the support the Commonwealth Government has given,” they said in a statement.
“We appreciate this is a challenging situation for all of us.”
