The following correspondence has been communicated with our family members in residential aged care.
Dear Families,
I trust that you are all keeping safe and well during this period. I am sure you are aware of the recent Coronavirus outbreak at the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, and also the outbreak at the Picton Hotel and four positive cases identified at Narellan Town Centre.
As I outlined in my most recent correspondence, our battle against COVID-19 is not yet over. We know how quickly it can spread and presents a major risk to our residents and staff.
The recent events at Crossroads Hotel and at the Picton Hotel is a case in point where NSW Health is working to identify all people who had visited these venues for testing and protection.
The risk to Carrington and to our residents is the close geographic proximity of these hot spots to where we are. One cannot be certain as to where individual people have been prior to visiting our facilities. To this end we are vetting our staff and ensuring they are tested for COVID-1 and are isolated if they have been anywhere near these hot spots.
I am pleased to advise that to date no staff member has tested positive and our protocols and processes will ensure that remains the case.
However we have assessed the risks for our residents and as it stands currently with our visitor protocol the risk is considered high.
Therefore in order to ensure the health, safety, and well being of our residents are protected at all times, we have decided to suspend our current visitor protocol for the next three weeks effective from Thursday 16th July 2020 to Friday 7th August 2020. This decision will be subject to review at that time.
- During this period and only by special appointment family members are able to visit their loved one who are Palliative or who have clearly established a pattern of involvement in providing resident care and support.
- Residents who have medical appointments that they need to attend during this period, families will have a prior arrangement with the Facility Care Service Manager and must observe all COVID-19 measures that are currently in place.
- Residents will refrain from visiting local shopping centres, restaurants, and cafes including our own Rocksalt Restaurant.
We appreciate that these measures will be difficult for some and upsetting for others, and it is likely that we will hear from some families expressing their frustration over the decision to temporarily suspend visitation for three weeks and we will assess the situation after that.
However, we must remember this is in the best interest of residents in our care and for me and my team, it will be more upsetting if positive cases are occurring in our facilities.
I appreciate your cooperation and understanding and reiterate my assurance of our commitment to reducing the risk to the residents.
Should you require further information please do not hesitate to contact the Care Service Manager of your facility.
Yours Sincerely,
Raad Richards,
Chief Executive