Impacts of increase in COVID

With the recent increase in COVID infections in the community, all the hard work, training and preparation we have undertaken over the last two years means we are as ready as we could possibly be for this phase of the pandemic where we are seeing large numbers of community transmissions. We have appreciated your support and cooperation as we work through this particularly challenging phase.

Our teams have been working hard to maintain safe supports for our participants. As a result of workforce impacts of COVID there have been some service disruptions and we are incredibly grateful for the patience and understanding of all participants and families who have been impacted with any changes to their services. We look forward to the near future when workforce issues stabilise, and things can start to return to normal once again.

For all of our workers and participants who currently have COVID we wish you all good health and a very speedy recovery.

COVID Safeguards at The Disability Trust

As well as our now well established protocols and training, we wanted to take the opportunity to update you around some of the additional safeguards we have been implementing to maintain a COVID safe environment across all of our services at The Disability Trust:

• We have been supporting our participants who need help to get their boosters and we are partnering once again with the Aspen Health group to run booster clinics;
• Many of our staff have already had a booster or are booked to receive one;
• All staff are well trained in the use of Personal Protective Equipment and additionally we have been ensuring that we are supporting trained access to Rapid Antigen Tests (wherever possible given current supply) to maintain a COVID safe support environment;
• Visitors to some of our most high risk services are being Rapid Antigen Tested to support the safety of residents;
• Staff are being actively encouraged to have a Rapid Antigen Test prior to the commencement of their shifts where they hold any concerns around their COVID status;
• We maintain regular communication with our Public Health Units and Local Health Districts to ensure support for any participants at high risk of severe illness can be prioritised; and
• Our managers regularly review and update COVID Safe Risk Management Plans and protocols for each of our services.

Access to Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs)

The Disability Trust is very focused on obtaining sufficient stocks of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) in order to undertake surveillance testing and bring staff safely back to work or participants safely out of isolation following COVID infection or close contact. While we do have a very limited stock of RATs which we are using judiciously, we have placed orders in to receive further supplies which we expect to receive very soon however supply issues mean accessing adequate stocks of these tests is a challenge at the present time. We continue to liaise and advocate strongly with our government partners to ensure that The Disability Trust and other service providers and people with disability in the community have access to RATs to support their safety and wellbeing.

We are absolutely committed to supporting our wonderful participants and families to be safe and well throughout this period so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns about your supports we would love to hear from you.

We look forward to continuing to keep you updated of any significant changes as the situation continues to evolve.