The first of three reviews into New Zealand’s COVID-19 clusters in aged care homes is here – and its findings have relevance for Australian operators.
16 of New Zealand’s 22 COVID-19 deaths took place in aged care homes.
The independent review by the Ministry of Health looked at five clusters as well as a number of other homes that didn’t have outbreaks and found that residents had been exposed to the virus by infected staff or visitors.
In at least three cases, staff were infected first, though no blame was being attributed to any staff involved.
The report also concluded few homes had fully comprehended the impact a confirmed case would have on their home; particularly how many staff would be stood down because of the need to self-isolate or fear of catching the virus – up to 40% within two days for clusters.
Describing the period as “complete chaos”, staff also reported being treated like “lepers” and suffering online abuse and harassment from neighbours.
Many experienced community misinformation, isolation from their families, and having their accommodation threatened by fearful landlords or housemates.
Communications and resources provided to aged care providers and management were criticised for being confusing and not always clear or consistent.
“Some noted a lack of available PPE leading into the pandemic contributed to an inability to practice wearing PPE in some facilities,” the report stated. “Relationships with the local DHB infection prevention and control staff were variable.”
Aged care staff were not familiar with concepts such as outbreaks, clusters, probable versus proven cases, and other epidemiological terminology, adding to the confusion.
The report makes a number of recommendations to remedy these issues in future outbreaks, including:
- Acknowledgement by the Ministry of the substantive work done by the ARC sector to prevent and manage the COVID-19 cluster outbreaks (number one on the list);
- Development of a national outbreak management policy with clear leadership roles, reporting processes and communication channels, with policies on case recognition, staff and resident management and support, supply and use of PPE, testing, screening, isolation, lockdown, and resident transfers and admissions.
- Better psychosocial supports for staff and residents’ wellbeing during and after outbreaks
- Development of a national Infection Prevention and Control strategy for the aged care sector
- Further consideration of the reputational consequences for aged care homes and stigmatisation of aged care staff, for example reconsider method for naming outbreaks.
- Streamlining and simplifying of reporting requirement to health authorities including appropriate software, spreadsheets, and documentation.
Will similar enquiries here make the same findings?
