The webinar to #Anglicare #Newmarch responsible persons of #agedcare residents affected by the #covid outbreak is here. A long discussion thread follows.

#agedcarerc #auspol @ScottMorrisonMP @albomp @greghuntmp @richardmcolbeck @bradhazzard @gladysb https://vimeo.com/411246677/20f0ac683a

There are 5 organisations involved:
1. #Anglicare CEO Millard
2. @NSWHealth infectious specialist Branley
3. Commonwealth Health @healthgovau Lye
4. Commonwealth Health #agedcare regulator #ACQSC Anderson
5. Commonwealth Health funded group, #OPAN’s Gear

#agedcare #auspol

Discussion begins :
#Anglicare is struggling. They are understaffed and this pandemic shows how despite their plamnning, they were unprepared for the virus spread. They have 55 in their #Newmarch workforce. 17 have tested positive to #covid so far. 30% of their workforce is out.

The first case at #Newmarch was an asymptomatic carer who was a close contact of a positive case. Around the same time, an #agedcare resident had tested positive. Learning from Dorothy Henderson Lodge, @NSWHealth did a frontload testing regime to be on top of the positive cases.

On 25 April, #Newmarch’s positive cases number 48, while Dorothy Henderson on 31 March had 21 positive cases. Some staff are scared and too traumatised to return. Some agency staff are unwilling to come. An expected 10 RNs + 28 carers on the 23 April yielded 4 RNs + 20 carers

Given #covid19au has heightened all our sense of self-preservation, the #agedcare workforce dealing with #Newmarch are on alert. The Commonwealth @greghuntmp @healthgovau sent their third party medical service of choice, #AspenMedical, which has its own long political history.

I’m not going to look into detail #AspenMedical here but I raise queries about the extent of their involvement - institutional, political and medical - @greghuntmp @scottmorrisonmp @richardmcolbeck in duplicating provision of our @NSWHealth state service @gladysb @bradhazzard.

#Anglicare’s CEO discussed the problems they’ve faced (previously but now heightened) such as communication with families and response to call bell times. He’s thankful for any help from @healthgovau which has now intervened to deal with the biggest outbreak so far in #agedcare.

The @NSWHealth infectious specialist Dr James Branley has been dealing with #COVID since January. He notes the significant medical challenge in #agedcare (we know through #agedcarerc). By the same token then, surely, this requires significant medical access and solutions.

The medical solutions offered for #COVID-affected #Anglicare #Newmarch residents are antibiotics to stave off bacterial infection in lungs, and oxygen supplement. He notes the Hospital in the Home (HITH) program being delivered. #agedcare #agedcarerc @gladysb @bradhazzard #nswpol

Michael Lye, from @healthgovau, gives a detailed - albeit some times patronising - account of solutions being offered by the Commonwealth. His contribution to this webinar points to where ideal, quality #agedcare should be. In the post- #covid world, this is where we should go.

Lye notes #agedcare Minister @richardmcolbeck has been in touch with some #Newmarch family members. He says @healthgovau are doing all they can to support the #agedcare frontline on outbreaks. If this were so, why then is the sector still short on #PPE? @greghuntmp @albomp

Lye also notes they’re trying to stop the outbreaks from first happening. Again @healthgovau needs to be more transparent. Where are all the infected cases not just outbreaks? Why did I have to create a map because there’s no info? https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cElPbpg6STxXG4RWkU784a9diKqfcSJE&usp=sharing #auspol #agedcare

Lye outlines what medical care in #Anglicare #Newmarch should be:
-RNs on site @AbutlerAnnie @anmf_federal, and
-GP 24/7 @racgp @ama_media

This is significant. #Anglicare notes their optimal #agedcare workforce would be 23 nurses and 8 carers, not the other way around.

Lye’s testimony suggests primacy of having nurses in #agedcare facilities and a GP on site. This has huge implications for the workforce requirements post- #covid. Enough fiddling with the workforce numbers. Nurses + GP: the baseline for a quality sector. #agedcarerc @greghuntmp

ACQSC’s Janet is unconvincing that this regulator is functioning as it should. Its complaints process is a joke @bjakd. She states they’re sending managers in to #Anglicare as a “force multiplier.” Unless these managers can re-skill as frontline workers, they are redundant.

The difference between overall #agedcare picture provided by Lye @healthgovau vs Janet #ACQSC is clear as a bell. In a pandemic:

Lye = more medical staff
Janet = more managers

Which is more convincing? @ScottMorrisonMP @greghuntmp @albomp @richardmcolbeck #auspol #agedcarerc

#OPAN’s presence is redundant. Funded by @healthgovau, its issues of governance and financial independence have been raised elsewhere. See the hashtag. For #Newmarch families, it is in their best interest to get their own independence advice when dealing with #Anglicare.

My key takeaways:
#Anglicare is in the middle of the crisis. Its CEO has shown his willingness to be transparent. May that continue because he needs to deal with the families directly and no PR will gloss over this crisis. He needs to communicate often and be available to them.

For other #agedcare providers, if a #covid outbreak does spread and it can’t be managed in-house, there will be State intervention and its unintended consequences. Prepare families, hire more staff and PPE. The chickens have come home to roost. Be transparent. #auspol #agedcarerc

The 2 Health bodies @healthgovau and @NSWHealth need to work in tandem. Less third parties, and resources transferred from Federal to State with PPE and staffing. Hospitals must be an option. #ACQSC needs to be shut down. #OPAN needs to seek business elsewhere. #agedcare #auspol

There are of course other issues that the Newmarch case has raised. But for now this thread ENDS.