The Morrison Government has accepted all 38 recommendations from a review into COVID-19 outbreaks in residential aged care facilities.
\nThe Independent Review of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities, will underpin continued improvements as the Government and aged care sector prioritise the health and wellbeing of senior Australians in care.
\nMinister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, and Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck said the review was an important blueprint as we navigate the ongoing impact of the pandemic.
\n\u201cIt has been an extremely challenging time for all of us, but particularly senior and vulnerable Australians and those who care for them,\u201d Minister Hunt said.
\n\u201cThe review\u2019s 38 recommendations will help aged care facility administrators better prepare for and respond to future COVID-19 outbreaks and will assist the Government in monitoring and evaluating these measures.\u201d
\nMinister Colbeck said the review was already guiding measures for the protection of aged care residents and workers in the current New South Wales, Victoria and ACT outbreaks.
\n\u201cImportantly, the findings show that while community transmission is the biggest predictor of COVID\u201119 outbreaks in aged care settings, effective leadership at all levels is the most critical factor in defending against the virus,\u201d Minister Colbeck said.
\nHe said the information in the report will also provide input and guidance into the principals required as we move towards living with COVID-19 in residential aged care.
\nThe report outlines nine key lines of defence to minimise risk of COVID-19 outbreaks:<\/p>\n
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and its Aged Care Advisory Group have considered the recommendations. Aged care workers can also access mental health support available to all Australians including:<\/p>\n The Morrison Government has accepted all 38 recommendations from a review into COVID-19 outbreaks in residential aged care facilities. The Independent Review of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities, will underpin continued improvements as the Government and aged care sector prioritise the health and wellbeing of senior Australians in care. Minister for Health … Continue reading “Recommendations of review into COVID outbreaks in aged care accepted”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMinister Hunt said the Government will continue to adapt the way it prepares for and responds to an outbreak, based on what has been learned.
\n\u201cThis will be done in collaboration with the aged care sector, state and territory governments and health authorities,\u201d Minister Hunt said.
\n\u201cIt will also be important that, as the community transitions to living with COVID, we continue with critical strategies such as vaccinations and testing, so that aged care residents and staff are protected.\u201d
\nMinister Colbeck said since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Morrison Government has committed over $2.1 billion in funding for aged care COVID support.
\n\u201cWe have listened to the experiences and stories of those living, working and caring in the aged care sector throughout the pandemic,\u201d Minister Colbeck said.\u00a0 \u201cWe are committed to improving our preparation for and response to outbreaks, and better supporting our most vulnerable Australians.\u201d
\nThe Ministers thanked the authors of the review and the residents, families, friends, carers, providers and workers who contributed to this and the previous four independent reviews.
\nThe full report can be found\u00a0here<\/a>.
\nPlease note that the release of the report may be confronting for anyone affected by the impact of the pandemic on Australia\u2019s aged care sector. The following support is available:<\/p>\n\n
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