Updates have been made to the Residential Aged Care Direction in South Australia.
The Emergency Management (Residential Aged Care Facilities No 15) (COVID-19) Direction 2020 has been revoked and replaced by the Emergency Management (Residential Aged Care Facilities No 16) (COVID-19) Direction 2020. This new Direction came into effect at 10.15am on Thursday 3 December 2020.
This Direction has been amended to clarify the meaning of a Residential Aged Care Facility, the requirement to wear a mask and maintain contact tracing records. The contents of the previous Direction are largely still in place.
The following changes have been made to the Residential Aged Care Direction in South Australia:
Definition of a Residential Aged Care Facility
The requirements under this Direction apply to a Residential Aged Care Facility defined as:
- A facility with accommodation where personal care and/or nursing care is provided to a person who a received a residential care subsidy or flexible care subsidy under the Aged Care Act 1997 Cth;
- The aged care portion of a Multi-purpose Service (MPS) in which accommodation and personal care and/or nursing care is provided to aged care residents in aged care beds; or
- A section of a regional hospital which provides State funded residential aged care beds.
Masks in a Residential Aged Care Facility
All people who are at a Residential Aged Care Facility (other than a resident or child under 12 years of age) must wear a mask which covers their mouth and nose at all times when in the presence of other people.
Exceptions to this include:
- If in the professional opinion of a service provider/carer the wearing of a mask will hinder the provision of relevant care or impact a residents safety or wellbeing;
- If a person has a relevant medical condition including problems with their breathing, a serious condition of the face, a disability or mental health condition;
- Where the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication such as to enable communication by or with any person who is deaf or hard hearing; and
- When a person is eating or drinking.
Contact Tracing in a Residential Aged Care Facility
- The operators of a Residential Aged Care Facility must maintain a register or all visitors, volunteers, visiting healthcare professionals and contractors at the point of entry.
- Details that must be recorded include;
- Name
- Telephone number
- Date and time of the visit and departure; and
- The name of the resident or area of the facility the person visited.
- Accurate staff records must also be kept to allow timely contact tracing by SA Health should a confirmed case of COVID-19 be present in a Residential Aged Care Facility.
- These records must be kept and made immediately available for inspection on request for contact tracing purposes.
The information above only highlights the changes key made and does not reflect all requirements under the Residential Aged Care Facilities No 16. Members of the public are encouraged to see the full direction for further information.
All existing directions, frequently asked questions and other information can be found here: https://www.covid-19.sa.gov.au/emergency-declarations
If you require further information you can call the SA COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787 between the hours of 9am to 5pm 7 days per week or go to the SA Health website at www.sahealth.sa.gov.au or www.sa.gov.au/covid-19
