Avondale Heights Update 27 November 2021

As you know Doutta Galla provides regular communications to residents, families and friends when changes occur at the Home.  This has been more so as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and during an outbreak.

Feedback from families about our communication frequency has been mixed.  Some families prefer daily updates regardless of whether there have been any substantial changes, others only want updates if there is a major change, and others prefer personal contact from a staff member at the Home only if there is a change to the health status of their family member.

To accommodate the different communication preferences, we will introduce short, daily updates for the duration of the current outbreak, some of which may report no change and others that will provide more detail as it becomes available.  Of course, if there is a change to your family member’s health status we will contact you personally.

The format of our communications may seem less formal than you are used to receiving, however it will still contain relevant information that will be easier and quicker to access.  More formal communication will be provided as required.

We will start our change in communication style from today in anticipation that this will meet most peoples’ immediate needs and we can review as we go. The update is likely to be available around 4pm each day and will be sent to the primary contact and/or other key contacts as requested by the resident.  The reason for this time is that we will have received the relevant information from the government departments to pass onto you. The updates will also be available on the Doutta Galla website.  We welcome any feedback to this format.

• All results have now been received from the testing round undertaken on 25/11/2021.
  One student has tested positive today from the testing round of 25/11/2021. To date we have 1 staff
  and 1 student who have tested positive – both remain comfortable.
•  At this point there are no residents who have tested positive to COVID-19. Twice daily COVID-19
  screening will continue to be undertaken for residents.
• All residents remain well and comfortable. Additional staff have been rostered to support residents to
  continue to receive personal care, emotional and social wellbeing support, medications, and meals in
  their rooms.
• Doutta Galla’s Clinical Governance and Infection Control team are overseeing the IPC and are being
  supported by the Home’s IPC Leads. Increased cleaning has been implemented along with increased
  waste management services.

We are presently awaiting further directions from the Western Public Health Unit. We anticipate that the usual processes will apply, and we are planning for testing rounds to be conducted every 72 hours. As soon as we have further information available on the next steps, we will advise you.

Please contact the Home on 03 9325 0000 if you have any questions or concerns.  In addition, you are welcome to contact us via covid19questions@dgas.org.au Thank you for your support during this challenging time.

Yours sincerely,

Vanda Iaconese

CEO