Monday 19 July 2021
To: All CALHN staff
Action: Please ensure you adhere to the below requirements. Managers are asked to actively share this information with staff who may not have access to email.
Hi everyone,
CALHN’s Incident Management Team is overseeing both the network’s response to the current demand and CALHN’s response to the COVID-19 situation in South Australia.
This afternoon two more cases of COVID-19 were announced, both related to the case from this morning. As a result, late this afternoon the community was informed that level 4 public activity restrictions will come into effect from midnight tonight and will be reviewed on Friday.
These restrictions are designed to reduce the spread of the virus, with the details of these directions to be released on the SA Health Facebook page and covid-19.sa.gov.au website later today. Most of the impact will be felt within the community, rather than within our services however there is a need to reduce density to 1:4 metres.
Our immediate focus as an organisation is to implement strategies to decompress the RAH (as the COVID-19 designated hospital) to ensure that we have resources available and ready should we see an increase in COVID-19 cases.
I ask that you have an absolute focus on moving patients through the system and if there are any blocks to achieving this to escalate them through your usual pathways. We instigated a major incident earlier today to assist us with this and as we manage the arrival of the patients from the Modbury Hospital Emergency Department.
The Incident Management Team has determined that as a network we will remain at a heightened CoSTAT1 status. Further information about what this means will be provided tomorrow morning. The CALHN COVID-19 Plan Network Disaster Resilience Response Plan - Human Disease Annex provides more information about what each CoSTAT means.
At this stage, our visitor limits remain unchanged and there will be increased vigilance around public health screening at our sites.
While this bulletin is long, it provides important information for staff and I encourage you to read it.
Staff COVID-19 vaccination walk in clinics at RAH and Wayville
RAH pop up clinic
CALHN staff on the 1a, COVID pathway who are yet to receive their vaccination can walk into a pop up COVID-19 vaccination clinic in the old nail salon at the RAH to receive their COVID-19 vaccination. This includes staff, Spotless/ISS and students who work in the COVID/quarantine pathway in areas such as ICU, ED, COVID ward or who spend time in these areas.
The clinic will be open between 10am and 4pm this week (Tuesday 20 July to Friday 23 July).
If the clinic is busy, the staff working at the clinic may ask you to come back later.
Walk into Wayville
If you can’t get to the RAH, or you’re eligible for Pfizer vaccination, you can walk into the Wayville Vaccination Clinic at any time to receive your vaccination – no appointment needed.
The clinic will remain open until 6:30pm tonight, Tuesday and Thursday for CALHN staff.
Please be aware that if you work in a high risk area, and are not vaccinated you may be asked to work in an area of lower risk.
Exposure sites
Please ensure you keep yourself up-to-date with information about local exposure sites and follow all instructions regarding isolating and testing.
If you have been in a known exposure site during the timeframes listed, please complete the self isolation form, get tested and contact your line manager and the Clinical Worker Health Service for further advice and a risk assessment.
Regardless of your vaccination status, if you have been to any of the exposure sites or areas listed you should contact the Clinical Worker Health Service (contact details are below) for further advice and a risk assessment.
In some cases, if you work at the RAH or along the COVID-19 pathway, you may be required to work from home – either elsewhere within the network or asked to stop working across sites.
Any managers or supervisors experiencing any issues due to employees having to isolate can escalate via the Incident Management Team by emailing CALHN.NICC@sa.gov.au
Clinical Worker Health Unit
- Royal Adelaide Hospital, telephone 7117 2306
- The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, telephone 8222 7642
- Afterhours: 0438 976 481
Testing of healthcare workers
Anyone with symptoms is urged to get tested. If you have a fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, runny nose, shortness of breath or loss of taste or smell, please visit a COVID-19 clinic for testing and let them know you are a staff member to help fast track your results.
If you are self isolating, please ensure you complete the COVID-19 self isolation form. If you are feeling unwell, please do not come into work. Even if you have the mildest of symptoms, please get tested immediately. We cannot be complacent.
PPE update
As of today, we have 39.3 days of N95 masks, 20.6 days of surgical L3 masks, 81.4 days of eye protection and 17.3 days of surgical gowns available on site.
In addition to this, there is significant stock on hand at the distribution centre and a further 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.
If you need to be fit tested, please contact the Clinical Worker Health unit.
Mask wearing
Mask wearing continues to be mandatory for all staff, visitors and patients on a hospital and healthcare service site.
This includes public hospitals and health services, allied health, community, dental, radiology, disability and rehabilitation services. This mandatory requirement also extends to administration, catering, cleaning and ward staff based in a patient-facing/clinical site.
Staff based at non patient facing/clinical sites such as Roma Mitchell House will not be required to wear a mask if they are able to adhere to physical distancing of 1.5m. We ask that you model correct mask wearing and support your staff to wear the right PPE.
If you require further mask supplies, you can order through the standard oracle ordering process (Oracle code 19047012 – Level 1 for administration use and Oracle code 19047308 – Level 3 for clinical use).
Working from home
To reduce the number of staff on site, non-patient facing staff at our hospitals and health service sites that are not required as part of essential operations, are encouraged to discuss working from home with their managers while the current direction is in place. This is particularly important for vulnerable staff.
All requests need to be discussed with and approved with your line manager.
If you are working from home, please complete a working from home form as soon as possible (even if you have previously completed one).
Physical distancing and meetings
Wherever possible staff are encouraged to limit face-to-face meetings and use Microsoft Teams. In addition, please ensure that physical distancing should be maintained by applying the 1 person per 4 square metre rule in all areas including meeting rooms.
Keeping informed during COVID-19
We would like to again remind you that you can find the latest information on recently updated COVID-19 staff portal. This site is regularly updated with staff information and resources.
We will also continue to regularly post to the CALHN Workforce Facebook Group. If you haven't yet joined this group, we encourage you to do so.
Please continue to play your part:
- Get tested with any symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild
- Use the COVID SAfe Check-In
- Get vaccinated if you haven’t done so already.
If you have any questions, please speak with your line manager, and continue to support each other and role model appropriate behaviours.
Thank you to everyone for leaning and remember that patient and staff safety drives everything that we do.
Brendan Docherty
Executive Director | Operations
Network Commander