Teachers will welcome students back into classrooms across the state today with vaccinations, rapid antigen testing and mask wearing to play a key role in limiting the spread of the virus and keeping school communities safe.
Premier Dominic Perottet said this was an exciting day for students, and parents and carers can be assured that a wealth of COVID safe measures are in place to ensure minimal disruption to the 2022 school year.
“The best place for students to learn is at school and getting our young people back to face to face learning is an important part of the plan to live with the virus,” Mr Perrottet said.
“We have worked hard to ensure that every school is a safe environment for students, teachers and school staff. We have distributed 8.6 million rapid antigen test (RAT) kits to all schools to ensure that students and staff are able to test for the virus twice a week for the first two weeks of term.
“RAT kits have also been distributed to all early childhood education centres so that educators are able to undertake surveillance testing for COVID-19 twice a week.
Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said she was thrilled to see students walk through school gates and welcomed back to the classroom by their teachers.
“Teachers and students put in an enormous effort last year while they were learning from home, however we know that being at school has so many social and developmental benefits for children, beyond what they learn in the classroom,” Ms Mitchell said.
“The Department of Education had worked closely with NSW Health to deliver supplies to all schools ahead of students’ return today to make schools as safe as possible.
“Vaccinations remain one of our strongest defences against COVID-19 in our schools and with all staff having received at least two doses of the vaccination, it’s encouraging to see that our students are also increasingly getting vaccinated.”
More than 80 per cent of children in the 12- to 15-year-old age group have had their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 78 per cent are double-dosed. In the 5- to 11-year-old age group, more than 39 per cent of children have had their first dose.
Other COVID safe measures including physical distancing, ventilation, mask wearing and cohorting will continue to work to limit the spread of the virus, while school year groups will be separated as much as possible with staggered start, break and finishing times and designated playground areas, tuckshop lines, toilets and classrooms.
“With all these measures in place, we’re confident that students will be able to return to the activities they love while staying COVID safe,” Ms Mitchell said.
More information on COVID safe measures in schools is available at https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families
Author: admin
Staged return of non urgent elective surgery
From Monday, 7 February non-urgent elective surgery requiring an overnight stay will return to 75 per cent capacity in private hospitals, and up to 75 per cent of pre pandemic activity levels at public hospitals in regional and rural NSW where they are able to do so.
The temporary suspension of non-urgent elective surgery requiring an overnight stay in both public and private hospitals from 10 January was necessary to ensure there was sufficient staffing and hospital bed capacity in NSW to meet the extra demands caused by the Omicron wave of COVID-19.
All emergency surgery and urgent elective surgery in NSW continues to be performed during this challenging period. The majority of non-urgent elective day surgery has also been continuing in public and private hospitals.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said with COVID-19 hospitalisations stabilising, non-urgent elective surgery requiring an overnight stay can now begin to resume in a safe and staged manner from Monday, 7 February.
“I am pleased to announce that from next week non-urgent elective surgery will resume at private hospitals and in some of our public hospitals that are in a position to do so in regional and rural NSW,” Mr Perrottet said.
“The reintroduction of non-urgent elective surgery will be done in a phased manner to balance the ongoing potential need for extra capacity in our hospitals and the need for people in NSW to access their elective surgeries as quickly as possible.
“We recognise the effect these necessary restrictions have had on the lives of people requiring non-urgent elective surgery and I want to assure them we will be doing everything possible to return to full capacity in all of our hospitals as soon as possible.”
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said private hospitals will retain some capacity to assist public hospitals by taking patients if necessary and will also continue to take public patients for non-urgent elective surgery to ensure equity of access.
“I want to thank the private hospitals in NSW who have supported our public hospitals and the NSW community during this challenging period and will continue to do so after non-elective surgery resumes next week,” Mr Hazzard said.
“NSW has a strong healthcare system, both public and private, and an exceptional workforce who have continued to provide world class care for their patients throughout this pandemic.
“Our hospitals remain under pressure due to COVID-19 so only our public hospitals that are in a position to resume non-urgent elective surgeries without compromising their ability to care for COVID-19 patients and patients with other medical conditions will do so.”
Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor said people in regional NSW will be pleased to see a resumption in non-urgent elective surgery as we return to a normal operating environment.
“It’s been a challenging time, but our doctors and nurses and support staff have worked tirelessly in our regional hospitals to support people in need of urgent care,” Mrs Taylor said.
“More of our workforce is returning and this will mean our public hospitals will be in a position to restore non-urgent services, and I thank the people of regional NSW for their patience.”
Acting Deputy Secretary of NSW Health Wayne Jones said it is expected that a number of regional and rural public hospitals will have the capacity to resume overnight non-urgent elective surgeries from Monday 7 February, while metropolitan public hospitals will remain focused on the demands associated with caring for COVID-19 patients, with the situation under constant review.
“Where necessary local health districts may also re-impose temporary restrictions at a hospital in the event of a local outbreak to ensure the community are kept safe and can access hospital care if required,” Mr Jones said.
Mr Jones said patients due to receive non-urgent elective surgery who have been impacted by the restrictions are encouraged to seek medical attention should they experience a change in their condition so they can be clinically reviewed and re-prioritised to a more urgent category if required.
In 2020-21 the NSW Government provided an extra $458.5 million to fast-track elective surgeries which were delayed as a result of the Federal Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, and a further $80 million has been provided as part of the 2021-22 NSW Budget.
The NSW Government has committed more than $4 billion to the NSW health system to manage the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020.
Australia on the path for broader cancer care navigation support
• In the lead up to World Cancer Day (4 February 2022), All.Can Australia is emphasising the need to shift to broader access for cancer care navigation to support more Australians
• New research and economic modelling reveal that there may be up to $46 million in savings to the health system per year by implementing a non-cancer specific, care navigation model to support Australians diagnosed with cancer1
• If adopted, the new cancer care navigation model could deliver incalculable benefits to over 150,000 Australians living with cancer2
1 February 2022, Sydney Australia: In the lead up to World Cancer Day, advocacy group All.Can Australia is encouraging a shift to broader cancer care navigation to ensure more Australians receive support as they navigate the health system following a diagnosis of cancer, regardless of their cancer type.
All.Can Australia has shared details from new research that highlights the potential benefits of establishing Australia’s first all-encompassing cancer care navigation model.
The proposed cancer care navigation model is designed to provide guidance to all cancer patients – regardless of cancer type, patient demographic or location – as they traverse the health system.
In partnership with research partner Healthcare Management Advisors (HMA), All.Can Australia has been focusing on cancer care navigation to find sustainable healthcare solutions and address common pain points experienced by patients. According to a survey of Australians with cancer undertaken by All.Can in 2018, patients experience significant confusion and distress when moving through the health system. 1 In contrast, patients with access to cancer navigation, were better able to overcome barriers to care.1
The much-needed focus on cancer care navigation aligns with the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) World Cancer Day theme, “Close the Care Gap”, which is about raising awareness of the equity gap that affects many people with cancer and is costing lives.
Research snapshot
HMA’s research on behalf of All.Can Australia concluded that a universal cancer care navigation model for all Australians may be able to deliver multiple patient, health system and economic benefits.
· Total service costs for the proposed single model were estimated at $56 million per year3
· The model4 estimated that the proposed cancer care navigation model would generate net annual economic savings of:
– $67 million to the health system, through reductions in inpatient care and emergency department presentations
– $5 million to workplace productivity by reducing employee absenteeism
– $3 million in reduced patient education expenses for not-for-profit organisations
– $7 million in reduced transport costs for patients.
The model could generate annualised savings of $46 million per year or $900 per patient.5
Represents a return on investment of 44% based on the overall service cost.
Professor John Zalcberg – Co-Chair of the All.Can Australia Steering Committee and Head of the Cancer Research Program, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine School of Public Health at Monash University – a more integrated approach to cancer care navigation would make it easier for those diagnosed with cancer to navigate through Australia’s complex health system.
“The efforts to investigate a single model that can benefit all Australians diagnosed with cancer has the potential to transform cancer care delivery. This report helps to take our work to the next step, as now we potentially have a solution to tackle this. While the economic analysis of our research shows strong return on investment, it is the ability to better utilise existing services and create better connectivity that will make a huge difference to patients,” said Professor Zalcberg.
Bill Petch – Chief Executive Officer of National Asthma Council Australia and Co-Chair of the All.Can Australia Steering Committee – said the establishment of a new cancer care navigation model can’t occur in isolation and needs to factor in existing services.
“Our model has been designed to drive equitable access to cancer services, but an important consideration of our approach has been to make the best use of existing resources to address a critical unmet need,” said Mr Petch.
“Patients have long shared their feelings of disempowerment within our current health system. The adoption of a patient-centric and technology-driven navigation model could help address the multitude of unmet needs Australians with cancer face, including inequitable access. Our focus and investments should really be aimed at a singular solution that has potential to meet the needs of all Australians now and in the future.”
All.Can Australia also views the model as an opportunity to utilise emerging technology to drive better connectivity and equitable access in the cancer space. The novel model has the potential to leverage telehealth, emerging artificial intelligence and experienced navigators (both allied and healthcare professionals) already working across the health system.
All.Can Australia plans to leverage the research findings to continue discussion with government and other likeminded organisation to explore piloting and further data collection.
CATHOLIC HEALTH SAYS FEDERAL BUDGET MUST TACKLE COVID COSTS AS WELL AS ADDRESS SYSTEMIC ISSUES IN AGED CARE SECTOR
Catholic Health Australia is calling on the Government to go beyond retention bonuses for aged care staff and use the upcoming Budget to slash training fees for would be workers and lift care subsidies to provide urgent relief in the Omicron-plagued sector.
“Although welcome, retention bonuses do not work in isolation,” CHA Chief Executive Officer Pat Garcia said. “Catholic Health Australia has sent the government a suite of reforms that not only target the current COVID-19 crisis but also address the broader systemic issues the industry faces.
“Catholic Health Australia is urgently calling for more affordable training pathways, as well as a meaningful lift in care subsidies that truly reflect rising COVID-19 prevention costs. In line with the Royal Commission, the Government should also join with providers and the unions to put in a wage claim to the Fair Work Commission to lift wages for workers.”
In its Budget submission CHA, whose members provide about around 15 per cent of the nation’s aged-care services, says the aged care sector is under considerable stress due to the costs of buying rapid antigen test kits and PPE on the open market and to replace furloughed staff, including more overtime payments and incentives to fill rosters. With 56 per cent of aged care homes already operating at a loss, these additional costs are pushing many operators to the brink.
CHA’s Budget submission makes a number of recommendations including:
Additional payments paid directly to aged-care workers, which would help retain and attract staff and compensate them for the stresses they are under.
An uplift in the rate of care subsidies to meet the additional COVID-related costs.
Bring forward the additional training places funded in the May 2021 Budget and offer incentives, such as fee waivers and bonuses, to attract trainees.
The Budget submission also proposes additional measures to address the causes of the underlying financial pressures facing residential aged care, including indexation which reflects the actual movement in costs.
Mr Garcia said: “A clear-eyed look at care subsidies is needed. The $10 per resident per day increase announced in the last Budget has effectively been swallowed by rising COVID related costs. In fact, residential aged care homes incurred an operating loss of $7.30 per bed day in September quarter of 2021, compared with an operating loss of $5.06 in the same period a year earlier.
“The Government should bring forward the additional training places funded in the May 2021 Budget. Slashing fees and providing other incentives to train and join this rewarding sector would also help with future workforce pressures.”
Teachers’ union says pay rises of 2.04% are not enough
The IEU welcomes a letter from Catholic Employment Relations dated 27 January 2022 agreeing to commence negotiations for new enterprise agreements covering over 25,000 principals, teachers and support staff in NSW and ACT Catholic systemic schools. The previous agreements expired on 31 December 2021. However, up until this week, employers had stalled on commencing bargaining for pay rises and new agreements.
The Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch first wrote to the Directors of all 11 Catholic Dioceses on 30 November 2021 setting out its claim for principals, teachers and support staff employed in Catholic Diocesan schools in NSW and the ACT.
The IEU represents nearly 20,000 members in over 600 Catholic Diocesan schools throughout NSW and the ACT. The union’s claim for a new agreement mirrors the one made by the NSW Teachers Federation for teachers in government schools. It includes:
- a pay rise of 10% to 15% over two years for all members
- effective strategies to deal with the accelerating teacher shortage
- reduced teaching time to allow teachers time to plan, prepare and consult with colleagues
- easing excessive workloads by removing administrative tasks that don’t support teaching and learning.
- pay parity for support staff with their counterparts in government schools.
“Teachers’ salaries have slid steadily backwards since the NSW Government introduced wage caps more than a decade ago – wage caps in the government sector have a strong impact on the non-government sector,” said IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Acting Secretary Carol Matthews.
“The IEU believes the pay increase of 2.04% offered by Catholic Employment Relations in their letter of 27 January is not good enough. We look forward to robust discussions.
“Our members have gone above and beyond their duties for years, but especially in the past two, ensuring teaching and learning continued during the upheaval and anxieties of a global pandemic. Now is the time to recognise this in substantial pay rises and improved conditions.”
IEUA NSW/ACT Branch President Christine Wilkinson said: “It is time teachers were paid what they’re worth. Teachers’ workloads have steadily increased over the years while conditions continue to be eroded. This is not reflected in their wages.
“Young graduate teachers are leaving the profession in droves, intensifying the shortage of teachers. If the Government wants quality teachers, it is time to pay them what they’re worth.”
GREENS POLICY LAUNCH: Get coal and gas money out of politics
The Greens will stop big polluters corrupting democracy by banning donations from the fossil fuel sector to political parties, candidates, and associated entities.
Since 2012, the fossil fuel sector has donated over $9 million to the major parties. It’s no coincidence that successive governments have refused to take strong action on climate, while letting coal and gas corporations pollute our air and water, destroy farmland and culturally significant sites, and release billions of tons of carbon emissions.
The Greens’ plan will free our politics from the grip of the fossil fuel industry by banning all political donations from the sector, closing the revolving door between politics and the coal and gas industry, and establishing a strong, independent National Integrity Commission to crack down on corruption.
The Greens’ plan will:
- Ban all political donations from the mining and resources sector (and other dirty industries) and cap all other donations at $1000 per year
- Stop resource ministers and advisers from working for the fossil fuel industry within five years of leaving parliament
- Publish a register of meetings between ministers and mining lobbyists (including in-house lobbyists currently excluded from the Lobbying Code of Conduct)
- Deliver a strong, independent national corruption watchdog
- Deliver a Code of Conduct for all politicians and senior staff
This policy is a key component of the Greens’ comprehensive plan to clean up politics and revitalise our democracy. Our full democracy plan can be found here: Reform the whole system to end political corruption, and in addition to the above includes election spending caps, strengthening the Register of Interests and FOI laws, preventing disinformation from undermining public debate, and increasing the diversity of political representation so that parliament better reflects our community.
Greens deputy leader and spokesperson on democracy Senator Larissa Waters said:
“Coal, gas and oil corporations don’t donate millions every year to the Liberals, Nationals and Labor because they’re huge fans of democracy – they do it because it gets results. Let’s call this what it is: legalised bribery.
“Big polluters should not be able to buy policy outcomes and corrupt democracy with legalised bribery. In balance of power after the next election the Greens will push to ban all political donations from the fossil fuel sector.
“Dirty donations from the fossil fuel sector plus post-politics job offers are why there are 114 coal and gas projects in the federal pipeline nationally despite being in the middle of a climate crisis, where the science clearly says we need rapid emissions reductions and a phase out of fossil fuels.
“In the past we’ve seen Big Mining spend $24 million on an ad campaign to topple a Prime Minister over a proposed super profits tax.
“We’ve seen the Morrison Government give $21 million of public money to a company chaired by a major Liberal Party donor to frack for gas in the NT’s Beetaloo Basin, in the middle of a climate crisis and against the wishes of Traditional Owners.
“The disproportionate influence of dirty donations on government decisions is why Australia has pathetic climate policies, weak environmental protections, and no action on social, economic and racial justice.
“Elected representatives should be working for the people, not the highest bidder. That’s why the Greens will ban all political donations from the mining and resources sector and all industries with a track record of seeking to influence political decisions, and prevent ministers and advisers from taking cushy post-politics industry gigs for five years.
“We’ll also shine a light on who’s meeting with who by publishing a register of ministers’ meetings, and we’ll hold politicians to account by introducing an enforceable Code of Conduct and a strong, independent national corruption watchdog.
“Federal politics stopped putting people first long ago, and sold our democracy to corporate donors. Fixing that begins with kicking the corporations out of Canberra and creating a system we can trust to work for all of us.
“Only the Greens have a clear plan to restore faith in our democracy, and in balance of power after the next election we’ll push the next government to make it happen.”
Aid to Afghanistan must be boosted
Australian Greens International Aid and Development spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi and Foreign Affairs spokesperson Senator Janet Rice have today written to the Foreign Affairs Minister urging Australia to boost aid to Afghanistan as a matter of urgency.
Senator Faruqi said:
“There is a grave humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan, with the country on the brink of famine and near-universal poverty, the scale of which has not been seen in recent times.
“This crisis is a direct result of the war waged on the people of Afghanistan by Western nations, including Australia. For decades the people of Afghanistan were caught between the violence of the Taliban on one hand and that of the allied forces on the other.
“The least we can do now is increase Australian aid to prevent millions of people from starvation and death.
“While Australia’s funding commitment last year was certainly welcome, we can and must do more. All of the funding committed should be immediately disbursed to aid organisations working on the ground in Afghanistan and who have strong connections with local communities and civil society.
“Australia should also commit significant additional aid funding to Afghanistan as a matter of urgency. This should be in the order of at least $100 million per year.”
PBS listing to benefit Australians with rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma
From 1 February, thousands of Australians with a relapsed and/or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma will have access to a new treatment through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Lymphomas refer to types of cancer that begin in the lymphatic system and is the sixth most common cancer diagnosed in adults in Australia. In Australia, more than 6,000 people are diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma each year.
Mantle cell lymphoma is an aggressive, relatively rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Calquence® blocks a protein in the body that helps cancer cells to grow, and may help reduce the number of cancer cells and slow the spread of the cancer.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said more than 350 Australians with MCL accessed a similar treatment through the PBS in 2020.
“The listing of Calquence® will provide Australians with an alternate treatment option for this condition,” Minister Hunt said.
“Without PBS subsidy, Australians could pay more than $8,200 per script, instead, they can access it for $42.50 per script or just $6.80 for people with a concession card.”
Since 2013, the Coalition Government had approved more than 2,800 new or amended listings on the PBS. This represents an average of around 30 listings or amendments per month – or one each day – at an overall investment by the Government of $14 billion.
The Morrison Government’s commitment to ensuring Australians can access affordable medicines, when they need them, remains rock solid.
This PBS listing has been recommended by the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.
Making matching more successful for people needing an organ transplant
Regional Health Minister and Minister responsible for the Organ and Tissue Authority (OTA), Dr David Gillespie today announced $14.9 million for OrganMatch, a world-class software system helping to save the lives of more Australians waiting for an organ transplant.
“While Australia is a leader in successful donation and transplant outcomes, this funding boost allows for continued improvements and efficiencies to be made to the bespoke OrganMatch system over the next four years,” Dr Gillespie said.
“Our aim is to increase access for more people and deliver better outcomes for those 1,850 Australians on the waitlist in need of a life-saving transplant.”
OrganMatch is Australia’s organ waitlisting and matching system, providing real time access for clinicians to share time critical information across tissue-typing labs, DonateLife agencies and transplant units.
Dr Gillespie said OrganMatch has changed the way organs are allocated to donors, enabling clinicians to achieve the best possible matching outcomes and prioritising patients who are highly sensitised – and hard to match for medical reasons – as well as young recipients and people who urgently need a transplant.
“Since the system went live in 2019, 31 highly sensitised patients have received a kidney transplant who otherwise would have been unlikely to find a suitable match without OrganMatch,” Dr Gillespie said.
“One of these recipients had been waiting for a kidney transplant for 17 years, while 12 had been waiting more than five years, and it’s heart-warming to know they now have a better-quality life.
“The system has also matched 29 young transplant recipients with high quality donor kidneys, giving them more years of life with their transplant.”
Dr Gillespie said the ability to save more lives through OrganMatch wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of donors and their families.
“Donor families benefit from this streamlined system too, with reduced timeframes between time of their loved one’s death and organ retrieval surgery, meaning they spend less time waiting in a hospital, and more time with family and friends when they most need that support,” Dr Gillespie said.
Dr Gillespie said this funding boost builds on the 2015-16 Budget measure ‘Accelerating growth in organ and tissue donation for transplantation’ in which the Coalition Government invested one-off funding of $4 million for the development of an Australian organ matching system to replace the outdated National Organ Matching System established in 1999.
OrganMatch is delivered through contractual arrangements between the OTA and Australian Red Cross LifeBlood.
Show your support for organ and tissue donation by signing up to be a donor and telling your family you want to be a donor. Register at: donatelife.gov.au, or through your myGov account, or in the Express Plus Medicare app when downloading your COVID-19 digital certificate.
Four million additional Australians eligible for their booster dose
Over four million additional Australians are now eligible for their COVID-19 booster dose from today, with the Australian Government shortening the interval for when a person becomes eligible for their booster from four months to three months.
This follows the recommendation from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) to provide booster doses at a minimum of three months after a person has completed their two-dose primary course of vaccination.
This will allow 4.2 million more Australians to come forward and get a booster dose sooner, providing peace of mind and further protection against serious illness.
Australia is one of the world’s first countries to be rolling out a whole-of-population COVID-19 booster program.
Almost four in five Australians (16 million people) are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine booster dose, and approximately 7.7 million Australians have received a booster in recent weeks.
The move in early January to shorten the interval from five months to four months resulted in an increase in uptake, with almost 5.3 million people having received their booster dose in the period since.
There are over 18 million vaccine doses currently in fridges ready to be used or in warehouses ready to be deployed across more than 10,000 vaccination sites including GPs, pharmacies, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, and state and territory clinics.
ATAGI made its recommendation to reduce the interval after closely monitoring the epidemiology and characteristics of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant. It also considered the emerging data on the need, potential benefits, and optimal timing of a vaccine booster dose to prevent COVID-19 due to this variant.
Immunocompromised people who have received three primary doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will be able to receive a booster dose in line with the timing for the general population. ATAGI has also highlighted the importance of boosters for pregnant women.
The Australian Government has secured more than 151 million booster doses for delivery over the coming year and is well placed to continue to achieve world leading vaccination rates against COVID-19.