Covid 19 coronavirus: Lakes DHB ensuring residential care facilities protected

Lakes DHB say they have being working with all 13 age related residential care facilities. Photo / Gettys

Lakes District Health Board say they have being working with all 13 age related residential care facilities to ensure older people living in rest homes and staff are protected.

In a statement, Lakes DHB portfolio manager for Health of Older People Vanessa Russell said the facilities had put in place a no visitor process, had access to PPE and had upskilled staff on the use of PPE and on the importance of hand washing techniques.

"The providers have been proactive in ensuring that the residents' risk of becoming infected is very low.

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"There are national guidelines to support the staff of these facilities from possible risks from any outside contact, such as new admissions or visiting health professionals," she said.

In light of the outbreaks in other residential care facilities in New Zealand, Lakes DHB will this week be contacting all the providers again to ensure that they are confident with their policies, procedures and staff awareness on how to remain safe from COVID 19 infection.

Lakes DHB has checked with its aged residential care providers on three occasions in recent weeks and there is now a process in place to ensure that they have access to PPE from Lakes DHB.

Discussion have also gone on between the DHB and providers about the need to follow Ministry of Health advice on the use of PPE.

Lakes DHB said the aged care providers were well aware of the need to stop visitors, in line with their previous experience of viral infection /gastro-intestinal outbreaks.
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

Russell said the no visitors rules were enforced earlier than when Alert Level 4 was imposed, and the DHB has since checked this approach by phone calls and visits.

GPs' contact is now virtual with providers, district nurses are only visiting for the residents who need that level of expertise and hospice registered nurses likewise moved to virtual contact.

Russell said all of this would hopefully stop the risk from outside visitors, leaving risk of infection being from staff and any new admissions.

Any new admissions are only for people living in the Lakes DHB area. Lakes DHB has wanted to ensure that all providers have:

- A COVID 19 related pandemic plan
- PPE supplies and supply chain to DHB stores known
- All staff retrained / reviewed on hand washing technique and when it's important to be used
- Use of PPE – most providers have developed training resources – such as videos and know how to access DHB training resources
- Planning for staff reduction - providers had considered impact of small numbers of staff on leave, many had increased their casual pool at support worker and RN levels.