Lockdown of Residential Aged Care facilities

News
March 30, 2020

As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve in Australia, please be assured that PAC is working tirelessly to ensure the safety of both our residents and staff. PAC has made the difficult decision that due to the increasing presence of COVID-19 in Australia and the large numbers of visitors continuing to visit our Residential Care homes, that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 into the services is too high.

Therefore from 4pm on Sunday 29 March, all PAC Residential care homes will go into lockdown and unfortunately, visitors will not be permitted to attend. Exceptions to entry will only be made for residents in End of Life care at the discretion of the PAC Director of Care & Quality. This decision will be reviewed regularly in light of the changing environment and when it is deemed safe to remove the lockdown, we will do so.

To allow you to stay in touch with your loved ones, PAC will ensure that all services have sufficient iPads and staff will assist residents to use Zoom or other technology. Staff will advise on how this will work and when you can be in contact using these technology devices.

Please contact your service if you need to visit before the lockdown on Sunday afternoon, noting current restrictions of only 2 visitors per resident a day. The timing restriction of 15 minutes is still in place along with entry questions and temperature checking.

PAC strongly advises against residents going into the community, except for essential medical appointments. All non-essential medical appointments should be rescheduled. Screening will be conducted on the way back into the home for residents and a period of 14-day isolation may be implemented if deemed necessary.

The health and safety of you and your loved ones is at the forefront of our decisions. We thank you for your ongoing support at this time as we recognise that adjusting to the changes that have been made can be difficult. We are working in an unprecedented time in Australia’s history and appreciate your ongoing co-operation.

Yours sincerely

Paul Sadler, CEO