65 aged care providers have been granted access to PPE – including gloves, masks, and gowns – from the NMS by the Department of Health after being deemed ‘high priority, because they either had a confirmed case of COVID-19 or were facing “a severe risk to service provision”, The Guardian reports.
Another 15 providers also considered to be high priority are waiting to be granted access.
As covered in last Thursday’s edition, the Department changed the process for providers to access PPE, giving them a direct email address to contact for requests.
However, the Department also advised providers of delays in PPE, stating that only masks were available at this stage.
“The Department of Health will triage your request to determine priority and may be in contact with you for further information,” the advice read.
“It is important to remember that if you do not have a confirmed case of COVID-19 within your facility, program or service you should expect delays in receiving your PPE due to the increase in demand.”
The reminder comes as the first sign that the ABC’s trolling for ‘bad news’ – featured in Saturday’s edition – appears to be bearing rotten fruit.
The national broadcaster’s Specialist Reporting Team Rahni Sadler, Norman Hermant and Lucy Kent has run a 1,500-word piece (pictured above) on home care workers in the aged care and disability support sectors being concerned about the lack of PPE.
You can read the full story here.
The article begins with the real-life story of a 58-year-old Victorian nurse who repeatedly visited a man with coronavirus unknowingly.
The woman says she and her employer were only told of the man’s test results eight days after he tested positive – during which time she estimates she saw 30 to 40 other clients.
The woman – who herself has a long-term heart issue – has now placed herself in quarantine at home – but says she is unable to access testing unless she develops symptoms (which is required under the Government’s testing criteria).
“If I am positive, by the time they then find those people it’s weeks after the fact, so how many others have been in contact [with them] in the interim?” she said. “It’s just ludicrous.”
A terrible situation for this nurse – but a story that is not going to reassure other home care staff who are already feeling concerned about their safety.
