Year: 2022

7 January 2021

Further to our update to you yesterday, we have had an additional employee at Whiddon Largs test positive to COVID-19. As a precaution, and on the advice of the public health unit, we are restricting visitation to Whiddon Largs for now. Only compassionate visits for end of life will be permitted at this time. Residents are strongly encouraged not to leave the care home for now, again as a precautionary measure.

We continue to work closely with the local Public Health Unit and follow their advice. As previously mentioned, we have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented and our employees are wearing full PPE.

Employees must continue to wear full PPE (N95 masks, face shields, gown and gloves), complete a rapid antigen test, and social distancing must be observed at all times, including the staff room and nurses station.

We ask that if you have any concerns to please speak to your manager in the first instance. Please also remember our confidential EAP service contactable 24/7 on 1800 818 728.

We encourage you to have your Booster shot and send evidence of your vaccination to payroll@whiddon.com.au at your earliest convenience. Eligibility for booster shots are for those that have had their second dose at least 4 months ago.

Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication to Whiddon Largs.

7 January 2022

Further to our update to you yesterday, we have had an additional employee test positive to COVID-19. As a precaution, and on the advice of the public health unit, we are restricting visitation to Whiddon Largs for now. Only compassionate visits for end of life will be permitted at this time. Residents are strongly encouraged not to leave the care home for now, again as a precautionary measure.

We continue to work closely with the local Public Health Unit and follow their advice. As previously mentioned, we have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented and our employees are wearing full PPE.

We have also been conducting rapid antigen testing onsite, to complement our strict screening processes and robust COVID-19 protocols. This will continue at this time.

We understand that this is a challenging time for everyone, but we want you to know that it is our highest priority to keep everyone in our family safe and well, and we are doing everything we can to achieve this.

7 January 2022

We wanted to inform you that two employees from Whiddon Wingham have tested positive to COVID-19. As a precaution, employees are wearing full PPE and completing a rapid antigen test before they commence their shift.

We have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented and are working closely with the local Public Health Unit and following their advice. While potential exposure to residents is not considered high risk, we are restricting visitation to compassionate visits only for now, such as end of life, and residents are strongly encouraged not to leave the care home for now, again as a precautionary measure.

Employees must wear full PPE (N95 masks, face shields, gown and gloves), complete a rapid antigen test, and social distancing must be observed at all times, including the staff room and nurses station.

We ask that if you have any concerns to please speak to your manager in the first instance. Please also remember our confidential EAP service contactable 24/7 on 1800 818 728.

We encourage you to have your Booster shot and send evidence of your vaccination to payroll@whiddon.com.au at your earliest convenience. Eligibility for booster shots are for those that have had their second dose at least 4 months ago.

7 January 2022

We wanted to inform you that two employees from Whiddon Wingham have tested positive to COVID-19. As a precaution, employees are wearing full PPE and completing a rapid antigen test before they commence their shift.

We have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented. While potential exposure to residents is not considered high risk, we are restricting visitation to compassionate visits only for now, such as end of life. Residents are currently staying in their rooms as a precaution at this time and we are strongly encouraging residents not to leave the care home for now, again as a precautionary measure.

We are working closely with the local Public Health Unit and following their advice.

We understand that this is a challenging time for everyone, but we want you to know that it is our highest priority to keep everyone in our family safe and well, and we are doing everything we can to achieve this.

We thank you for your understanding and support.

7 January 2022

Further to our last update to inform you that a resident at Whiddon Hornsby had tested positive to COVID-19, we have now had three more residents test positive. These residents are doing well and are being closely monitored.

As a precaution, visitation remains restricted for now. Only compassionate visits for end of life will be permitted at this time. Residents are strongly encouraged not to leave the care home for now, again as a precautionary measure.

Employees must continue to wear full PPE (N95 masks, face shields, gown and gloves), complete a rapid antigen test, and social distancing must be observed at all times, including the staff room and nurses station.

We ask that if you have any concerns to please speak to your manager in the first instance. Please also remember our confidential EAP service contactable 24/7 on 1800 818 728.

We encourage you to have your Booster shot and send evidence of your vaccination to payroll@whiddon.com.au at your earliest convenience. Eligibility for booster shots are for those that have had their second dose at least 4 months ago.

Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication to Whiddon Hornsby.

7 January 2022

Further to our last update to inform you that a resident at Whiddon Hornsby had tested positive to COVID-19, we have now had three more residents test positive. These residents are doing well and are being closely monitored.

As a precaution, visitation remains restricted for now. Only compassionate visits for end of life will be permitted at this time. Residents are strongly encouraged not to leave the care home for now, again as a precautionary measure.

We continue to work closely with the local Public Health Unit and follow their advice. As previously mentioned, we have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented and our employees are wearing full PPE.

We have also been conducting rapid antigen testing onsite, to complement our strict screening processes and robust COVID-19 protocols. This will continue at this time.

We understand that this is a challenging time for everyone, but we want you to know that it is our highest priority to keep everyone in our family safe and well, and we are doing everything we can to achieve this.

We will provide you with a further update early next week.

6 January 2022

We want to thank you for your support and understanding in pre-booking your visits and completing a rapid antigen test when attending Whiddon Mudgee Pioneer. We appreciate your cooperation as we take these additional, and important, precautionary measures to help keep everyone safe.

Implementing these measures does add extra pressure on our teams, so we do ask for your patience at this time. As a result of the additional pressure on our teams, we respectfully request that visits take place during business hours and wherever possible, not on weekends. This will greatly assist us with our screening processes at this time, when the risk of COVID-19 is high in our community.

We also want to apologise for any inconvenience you may have experienced in contacting us on Monday, or last Friday, via telephone. This issue has been escalated and is currently being reviewed. We do hope that this is rectified as soon as possible, to ensure that this does not occur on the next public holiday.

Thank you again for your support and understanding.

6 January 2022

We wanted to give you another update regarding the COVID-19 situation at our nearby care home, Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young.

Since out last update, we have had a small number of employees and two residents have tested positive to COVID-19. In response to this, our employees at Robert Young are wearing full PPE and our care home at Whiddon Narrabri Robert Young has remained closed to visitors for now. We have activated our COVID-19 response plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented. Our robust COVID-19 management plan means that we have strict protocols in place to avoid spread of the virus across our care homes.

We received the second round of PCR swabs from Narrabri Robert Young and are pleased to share that all residents have come back negative, except for two residents mentioned above. Their families have been notified. We will be doing a third round of PCR swabs this Sunday.

Whiddon Jessie Hunt continues to remain open to visitors and we thank you all for following our processes and protocols during this time.

As a reminder, we ask that you wear an N95 mask when you visit, which will be provided to you. We will also be reducing our visiting hours from 10am – 2pm daily for now. You may also be asked to conduct a rapid antigen testing onsite, to complement our strict screening processes and robust COVID-19 protocols.  With the rising cases of COVID-19 cases in our communities, it is important that we stay vigilant and take all steps possible to help keep everyone safe.

We also want to reassure you that our employees are not working across our Narrabri care homes (Robert Young and Jessie Hunt).

  Please be reminded of the following guidelines when visiting:

• Residents are permitted to have two fully vaccinated visitors aged 12 years and over only, per day
• Children under 12 years of age are not allowed to visit
• Visitors aged 12 years and over must have received a second dose of a COVID vaccination at least 14 days prior to their visit
• Visits must not take place in communal areas and if available, visits should occur in outdoor areas
• All visitors must wear a N95 mask while visiting
• Visitors may be asked to complete a rapid antigen test as a condition of entry
• Unvaccinated visitors are only permitted to visit a resident who is at the end of life. Please speak to your loved one’s Care Manager directly to gain the necessary approval to visi

Please ensure that you:

• pre-book your visits. Please note that the number of visitors allowed into a home at any one time may be restricted to enable management of capacity limits.
• refrain from visiting if you have COVID-19 symptoms
• refrain from visiting you are a close or casual contact of a person with confirmed COVID-19, unless they have completed their isolation and testing requirements
• refrain from visiting if you are a fully vaccinated person who has been overseas in the last 7 day. Additionally, they must show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test taken on or after day 7 following their arrival
• refrain from visiting if you are not vaccinated and have been overseas in the last 14 days.
• refrain from visiting if you are waiting for a COVID-19 test result
• practice good hand hygiene and socially distance
• check in to the Service NSW app AND Whiddon’s check-in system when you visit

We thank you for your cooperation and support.

6 January 2022

Further to our update that was sent on earlier this week, we have since received the second round of PCR swabs. We are pleased to share that all have come back negative, except for the two residents who were originally positive, as mentioned in our update on Tuesday.

We have scheduled for the third round of PCR swabs to be taken this Sunday, 9th January.

As a reminder, please continue to be diligent with your PPE and our COVID-19 protocols during this time.

We continue to work closely with the local Public Health Unit and continue to follow their advice while also implementing our COVID-19 response plan and Outbreak Management Plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented.

We will share any further updates once we receive the results.

6 January 2022

Further to our update that was sent on earlier this week, we have since received the second round of PCR swabs. We are pleased to share that all have come back negative, except for the two residents who were originally positive, as mentioned in our update on Tuesday.

We have scheduled for the third round of PCR swabs to be taken this Sunday, 9th January.

We continue to work closely with the local Public Health Unit and continue to follow their advice while also implementing our COVID-19 response plan and Outbreak Management Plan to ensure all necessary precautionary measures are implemented.

We will share any further updates once we receive the results.

We thank you all for your support of our residents and employees during this time.