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Cover Story: On The Frontline
On the frontline
It has been a time like no other as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has impacted aged care facilities on the east coast. Our NSW homes have been no exception but what is exceptional is our staff’s unending devotion to our residents, their colleagues and our organisation.
Photography by Darren Leigh Roberts.
In 2021, the Hall & Prior NSW residential aged care teams displayed an extraordinary amount of courage, care and resilience and this escalated in December/January as our homes were affected by COVID-19 outbreaks. At all times, our residents are a top priority - and as the outbreaks spread, a surge workforce of nurses and health professionals from WA’s Hall & Prior homes headed over to Sydney to lend a hand. Here are just a few thoughts on these extraordinary times.
Above and beyond
Graeme Prior, CEO, Hall & Prior Group
It goes without saying that our staff in NSW - that is all staff - cleaners, carers, management, admins, cooks etc - have each made an enormous sacrifice to maintain the continuity of care for our residents over the last few months but more specifically over the last six weeks.
No words can describe how appreciative I am of these dedicated people who I am very proud to call my staff. COVID and in particular Omicron has impacted our sector but we have strong, resilient people who were prepared to do what they could to protect the vulnerable people we care for. Thank you to each and every one of them, I am in awe of their dedication and loyalty. You truly epitomise the values of our organisation.
We have learned many lessons from this experience that we hope we never have to use again but if we do, we are fully prepared to take on any challenges that may present themselves.
Riding the wave
Amy Irwin, NSW’s Labour Cost Coordinator, had a particularly forensic view of the experience of managing the spread of COVID in our homes in Sydney. Some staff worked every day over Christmas, ensuring our homes were staffed. Here’s Amy’s view from the frontline.
Workforce management became one of many key elements pivotal to the effective administration of a COVID outbreak at any given facility. Managing furloughed staff and working with the remaining staff, available fulltime staff and agency partners to make sure that staffing at a facility was adequate to meet the care needs required in a COVID environment was a huge challenge with many moving pieces.
Rosters were changing at times on an hourly basis and it was necessary to centralise rostering at Head Office for several homes during the first few weeks of the Omicron wave to support the Directors of Nursing (DONs) in managing this additional administrative overlay. Many staff worked additional hours, outside of their normal hours and normal days of work to support homes and to take care of our residents in these unprecedented times. From a workforce perspective all homes, regardless of location, had consultative and administrative support services available, albeit remotely (three cheers for technology).
Sydney-based homes did have the opportunity to call on agency partners as well as other homes and members of the State Office Team for staffing support which can be invaluable given the highly variable state of the situation. Contingency plans were made for Sydney staff to travel to Grafton and/or Aubrey Downer to support on the front line if required so there was a slight delay in regional support but it was planned and catered for.
A team from WA landed in Sydney on January 21 with a mixture of highly experienced DONs, Registered Nurses, Assistants in Nursing, a chef and other support staff to assist in providing leadership support in those homes where furloughed staff included key leadership personnel and registered nurses which are currently in shortage in Sydney and hard to recruit prior to Omicron.
Those initial first two to three weeks were particularly challenging and there have been a number of learnings which have resulted in a better operating rhythm’s at the facility level. There is now a wave of returning furloughed staff so while the risk is still prevalent, there are a number of returning staff who have recovered from COVID-19 who are able to return to the facility. There is more flux and flexibility of staff to call on compared to that first fortnight.
In terms of morale and the mood of the team, I can say personally that after working the phones and providing roster support for the first few weeks, the feelings among staff were very mixed. In the early days there was a genuine fear and some confusion among some individuals but the leadership team were able to work through and manage this with increased internal centralised communication.
The stand-out for me was the pro-activeness of employees in putting the needs of our residents first, their resilience and supreme diligence in the face of adversity. I felt extremely proud to work beside such competent and resilient individuals who have really stepped up when the organisation and our residents needed them the most.
It was very moving and inspirational. Many of my colleagues who I was in direct contact with in State Office worked tirelessly through those first few weeks, putting in and excess of 12-hour days as required to get the job done; with no complaints, just solutions-focused with care at the forefront of everything.
Feet on the ground
by Deborah Sinclair Lane, Executive Director of Care/ Regional Leader, WA
rom the WA Hall & Prior teams’ perspective, it was hard to watch F the events unfold in our NSW colleagues’ aged care homes. As COVID-19 spread, it became clear that as staff members became infected, some urgent help was required to fill the gaps in rosters. But how could we help, when our borders were practically closed to all those who wanted to travel east (or west)?
Well, there’s a saying which was apt - where there’s a will, there’s a way. By January 20, 10 members of the WA Hall & Prior workforce had volunteered to assist in a care and workforce crisis that had by then swooped into our NSW homes. After several delays due to flight arrangements and visa requirements, we were finally on our way. Armed with willingness, diverse skills and compassion, it’s fair to say that the team was somewhat anxious about what lay ahead. We were heading towards a highly infectious variant of COVID-19 that was severely affecting the residents and staff in our NSW homes. Despite this concern, we knew we had robust systems in place.
The WA workforce placement was well-organised and we had arranged to live on the first floor of Georges Estate, our NSW aged care home in Penshurst, safely isolated from the residents and staff of the facility.
We had our homes assigned to us where the workforce and care issues were presenting the most challenges, all of which were in COVID lockdown. It was then a matter of donning and doffing, and enforcing our well-versed infection control procedures so we could give some relief to the exhausted NSW staff teams.
On Monday January 24, we all started work in the homes – and immediately encountered the fact that there was much more travelling and traffic than we are used to back in WA! Thank goodness for GPS! Since then, we have worked on duties and shifts to suit the homes; some of us have worked double shifts and on their days-off, such is their willingness to assist. I’ve noticed that the teams here in NSW may be tired but their resilience shines brightly. I’ve also seen that NSW are learning to live with COVID and starting to recover - which is a really good piece of news for us to take back to WA when our mission ends in a few weeks.
So far, it has been a great experience and we are able to take back lots of learnings to our teams in WA.
Meanwhile, it’s on with the PPE again, into the traffic and on with another double shift.
ALL HANDS ON DECK A surge team of health professionals from WA’s Hall & Prior team - including Deb Sinclair-Lane - arrived in Sydney to lend a hand to their hard-working NSW colleagues.
Final thoughts
by Angela Day, Clinical Nurse Specialist Infection Prevention and Control, NSW
Dedication continues even after a shift ends for our frontline workers. As we reflect on the experience of working inside a COVID-19 positive aged care home, compassion and understanding is everything. COVID-19 has posed exceptional challenges to our homes, our staff and our residents. Understanding the lived experience of our teams provides a unique lens through which to view nursing in aged care during a pandemic. To the home management teams and State office staff that rescinded leave and precious time with their own family to care for our residents.
To our State office staff who worked tirelessly day and night behind the scenes to ensure that skilled frontline staff were available and well-equipped to care for our residents. To the NSW Resource team, superbly lead by Jennifer O’Connell - your staying power throughout this surge of COVID cases in our homes was admirable. Nothing was too much trouble, no task too small, your staff did absolutely everything they could. Personally I’ve never worked so hard. Everyone did. It was the biggest team effort I’ve seen in my time in nursing. To our committed registered nurses, care staff and kitchen staff who simply said “Yes, I will work!” They stepped up in such an uncertain time.
To Graeme and our WA colleagues and taskforce team members who were available for us 24/7 - your ongoing support was invaluable. It is truly amazing what a team can achieve, 3,286kms away.
To our families, in their time of anxiety and fear, who nevertheless offered their support, words of encouragement and trusted us to care for their loved ones and keep them safe.
To our residents for their patience and understanding - we acknowledge the impact COVID has had on your daily routines. Keeping you safe and well was always and will always be our priority. COVID-19 stretched us to our limit - but we all shared this strong belief that we were going to be alright. This pandemic has been described as a once-in-a-generation experience.
And for the next generation? I know whose team I want to be on!
COMPASSION AND CARE Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, our staff never forget that understanding our residents’ needs is paramount.
