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Staff from previous site of aged care outbreak start at Newmarch House
By Mary Ward
Staff from an aged care facility which previously experienced a coronavirus outbreak have started shifts at Newmarch House in western Sydney as more than 50 of the home's regular staff remain in self-isolation.
BaptistCare, the operator of Macquarie Park's Dorothy Henderson Lodge where 21 COVID-19 cases were reported last month, confirmed three of its senior staff would be "providing centre management and stakeholder support" at Newmarch, which is now the largest coronavirus cluster in the state after the Ruby Princess ship.
Staff from Dorothy Henderson Lodge have started at Newmarch House.Credit: Rhett Wyman
The efforts of the federal government and agencies meant Newmarch House had a "full complement of staff" on Friday, after operating with less than two-thirds its usual numbers earlier in the week, Anglicare said.
However, families say residents at Newmarch are still experiencing delays in care.
A spokesperson for Bankstown Opal Aged Care, which had an outbreak of five cases, said it had also provided the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission with its list of workforce agencies for the purpose of finding additional staff with coronavirus experience.
At least 29 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 at Newmarch, which is part of Anglicare's Caddens Village near Penrith. Five have died, including a 96-year-old woman on Friday.
The outbreak began when a staff member worked for six days while infectious earlier this month. Fourteen additional staff have since tested positive and another 40 are in self-isolation.
'I had to tell her she had the virus'
Mary Watson went from feeling hopeful to helpless on Friday when she received an early morning call that her 93-year-old mother, Alice Bacon, had been diagnosed with COVID-19 having previously returned three negative tests.
Ms Watson said she was initially optimistic after additional staff were promised during a video conference between family members, Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson and Anglicare Sydney CEO Grant Millard on Thursday night.
But after 10am on Friday, Ms Bacon called another daughter to say she had still not received her morning medication.
Mary Watson, right, visited her mother, Alice Bacon, at Newmarch House through the window for her birthday on April 5.
After repeatedly ringing her bell and receiving no answer, Ms Bacon told Ms Watson she stuck her head into the hallway and saw a sign had been placed on her door.
"I had to tell her she also had the virus," Ms Watson said, adding her mother didn't receive her morning medication until 12.45pm.
Other family members have reported missed meals and medication.
“Given the experience from other aged care sites ... it’s very likely we will be dealing with this for around 50 days,” Mr Millard said after Thursday night's meeting, where he apologised again to families for what he has called a "terrible situation".
Anglicare said the process of dressing in full personal protective equipment, additional hygiene practices and maintaining social isolation meant it was taking staff at least five times longer to deliver "the care [their] residents and their families expect" on Thursday.