Aged care providers must offer families two visits of at least 30 minutes per day – up to two hours per visitor for residents deemed to be eligible for longer visits – under the new ‘Industry Code for Visiting Residential Aged Care Homes during COVID-19’.
You can download the final copy of the Code here.
The Code – which was finalised on Monday by 13 aged care peak bodies and consumer advocacy organisations and will only be in place during the pandemic – does give operators some control, for example, they can decide how many visitors can be present at one time in the home and use booking systems to facilitate visits, plus they can offer alternative options such as window visits in place of face-to-face contact.
However, providers must offer alternative ways for residents to connect with family and friends where these are not effective (such as for residents with dementia or sensory loss).
“The range of visits made available will be negotiated between residents, their visitors and staff of the homes. Residents may choose to have visits in a variety of these forms allowing them greater opportunities to remain in contact with families and friends,” the Code reads.
As we covered here, operators must also allow longer visits from family members for residents receiving end-of-life care or who have a regular visitor – which could add up to one hundred or more visitors a day in some larger homes.
Under the Code, operators can only ban visitors when there is a suspected or actual outbreak or case of COVID-19 – with extra communication with families mandated during this time.
“Regular and responsive communication between families and the home will increase in circumstances where there are increased visitor restrictions,” the Code states.
The Code will be subject to change.
Regular reviews are planned with the first to happen on Friday, 29 May – two-and-a-half weeks from now.
ACSA CEO Pat Sparrow says the Code is “absolutely essential” and its review “just as important”.
“We need to monitor this closely because we can’t afford to get complacent,” she said. “The price paid by older people in aged care will be too high.”
An important point – as we reported yesterday, the number of confirmed cases in residential care has stalled for the first time since restrictions were introduced.
