Hi everyone,
Over the weekend we advised that SA Health has, as a precaution recommended that staff wear full face shields in conjunction with a P2/N95 respirator when they are caring for COVID-19 probable or confirmed patients, where there is a high risk of velocity bloody or bodily fluid stroke and respirator use is indicated.
The SA Health Infection control and personal protective equipment (PPE) advice has been updated and is available to download.
While PPE stock numbers constantly fluctuate, I want to assure you that we continue to have excellent supplies of face shields and masks available for staff.
As of today we currently have 19.9 days of L2 masks, 33.2 days of surgical L3 masks, 13.8 days of surgical L2 masks and 22.5 days of surgical gowns available on site.
There is also a significant amount of stock on hand within the distribution centre and we have an additional 7-day supply of PPE in a secure location that can be accessed on request of the IMT should we see a sudden increase in demand.
Incident Management Team (IMT) update
Tomorrow the IMT will be conducting our next gate review to assess the current COVID-19 situation both here and interstate, and make recommendations for our next steps and our preparedness and planning.
I will share the outcomes and provide an overview of the gate review with you in my message on Thursday.
Our network is currently at CoSTAT 1 and our focus at the moment is our continued reset and to ensure we are resilient and ready to respond as necessary.
This week our planning and operations teams are coming together to further review the organisation’s plans with a large focus on workforce preparedness and capacity.
If you have any suggestions that you would like the IMT to consider based upon your experiences, please raise them with your manager to escalate to the IMT.
Residential aged care facilities update
Last week the State Coordinator issued a Direction under the Emergency Management Act 2004 to limit entry into residential aged care facilities (RACF) in South Australia.
I can confirm that the requirement for staff to only work at one residential care facility only applies to personal care workers. These restrictions come into effect from 27 August and at present do not apply to other employees or contractors.
However, any person (this includes CALHN staff) who provides nursing, medical, allied health or personal care services to residents must wear appropriate PPE whenever a distance of 1.5m between themselves and the resident cannot be maintained.
While St Margaret’s Hospital (SMH) is not a residential aged care facility and not technically required to abide by the new COVID-19 aged care directions, the patients that we care for at this site are of a similar demographic.
As a result, to help protect our patients CALHN we will be following the residential aged direction at that site.
Work is currently underway to ensure the patients and staff who work there are appropriately supported with PPE, education and infection prevention and control support.
To find out more about the RAFC direction click here.
Current situation
Today I am pleased to advise that we have had no new cases in South Australia. Victoria has recorded 222 new cases – down from yesterday’s total of 282 new cases. Sadly Victoria has recorded 42 deaths in the last two days.
New South Wales has reported three new cases as of 8pm last night – one of which is a returned traveller and two which were locally acquired.
From Saturday to Monday the RAH Clinic has tested 168 people – down from previous week.
As I have said above it is very important that we remember to maintain physical distancing to ensure that we keep our patients, visitors and staff safe.
And as I always say...‘If not us...then who’
Lesley Dwyer
Chief Executive Officer
Central Adelaide Local Health Network