26 September 2023

Aged Care Centre ages in first week

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The Victorian Aged Care Response Centre has issued an update after its first week of operations, reporting steady progress during a challenging week.

The Centre said it was just one week into its critical role of establishing a unified effort across every aspect of the aged care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Executive Officer, Joe Buffone said there had been steady progress in establishing the Centre and responding to COVID-19 outbreaks in aged care homes across Victoria.

“Our first week in operation has been one of the most challenging in Victoria’s history, but a tremendous amount of work is underway to respond as rapidly as possible to immediate and emerging challenges,” Mr Buffone said.

“There will continue to be significant challenges, no more so than for aged care workers and aged care residents and their families,” he said.

“But with the Response Centre up and running, bringing together Federal and State Government Agencies and providing additional support on the ground in Melbourne, we’ve taken a significant step in the right direction.”

Mr Buffone said the Response Centre had brought together a workforce of more than 50 staff and experts from the Australian Government Department of Health, Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services, Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, Australian Border Force, Australian Defence Force, Aged Care and Quality Commission, and a number of hospitals and health services.

“In this time, the Response Centre has responded to five aged care facilities that had reached a high-risk category and could no longer guarantee continuity of care,” he said.

“Nurses and health staff have been sourced from South Australia, and eight ADF infection control trainers are ready to deploy and train aged care staff, another 30 ADF members are currently supporting the Response Centre on the ground.”

He said the Response Centre had facilitated outreach phone calls via Services Australia to residents’ families to ensure they were kept up to date, and held meetings with families of residents at high-risk facilities.

“We still have a long road ahead and this is a complex and unprecedented situation but we’re taking steps in the right direction,” Mr Buffone said.

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