The Australian Government Department of Health, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and the NSW Ministry of Health have agreed a joint approach to supporting residential aged care providers managing a COVID-19 outbreak.
The trigger for use of the protocol will be a single positive COVID-19 case within a RACF. Within 12 hours of identifying an outbreak, the RACF and the Public Health Unit (PHU) will establish an outbreak management team and schedule a meeting. Within 48 hours, the Senior Inter-governmental Oversight Group will convene. From then on the situation and your facility will undergo continuing assessment by government agencies.
It is worth noting that whilst the (Commonwealth) Government will provide funding for aged care services and support your capacity to manage the outbreak, the onus will be on you to lead and manage the implementation of the outbreak management plan (OMP) in response to the outbreak.
In summary, now is the time to ensure that you have a an OMP in place and; all staff, contractors, visitors understand and can communicate their knowledge of the plan to relevant government agencies such as the Local Health District and Clinical Excellence Commission.
Gen2 strongly recommends that you visit the following link for a more detailed explanation of the announcement.
