industry & reform
‘Not good enough’
CEO of independent provider
criticises lack of government
support in COVID fight.
By Conor Burke
The CEO of an independent aged
care home in NSW is calling for
help from the government as she
is forced to reinstate some lockdown
visitation measures while her home is on
the brink of running out of PPE.
Viv Allanson, chief executive of Maroba
nursing home in Newcastle, previously
spoke out in the media accusing Scott
Morrison of throwing the aged care
sector “under the bus” by not allowing
providers to impose their own strict
lockdown measures.
Three months down the line and
Allanson is still worried that she may fall
foul of the government and the aged care
quality safety commission as she restricts
visitors coming from Victoria and Sydney
coronavirus hotspots, and will only allow
visitors by appointment in an effort to
combat the potential spread of the virus.
Allanson says that her home simply does
not have the resources to allow unfettered
access to residents as it lacks the staff to
conduct extensive screening of visitors
without appointment.
She is also fed up with some visitors not
abiding by the current rules such as social
distancing and staying away if you are
from a coronavirus hotspot.
“I had someone wanting to come from
Victoria and tried to tell us that they’ve
10 agedcareinsite.com.au
had two weeks isolation. That person’s
brother rang and said, ‘She hasn’t had two
weeks isolation in new South Wales. She’s
just sitting at home in Victoria, but still
going to the shops.’ And she’s told me that
she’s had two weeks isolation so should
therefore be able to come and visit her
mother here,” Allanson said.
Aged Care Insite spoke with Allanson
soon after she attended a meeting with
residents to inform them that visitation rules
would be reintroduced – including physical
screens between visitors and residents –
and she says that she has their full support.
“They were backing every decision I was
making. I was talking to them through all
this. And so today, as I’m taking the steps
to wind back the visiting arrangements to
make them tighter … they said ‘Viv we’re
with you, we want you to do it, we want
you to take this step,’” Allanson said.
“They’re disappointed that humanity
can’t follow some general guidelines to
protect the vulnerable.
“When the government is focusing on
the economy, the economy, economy,
they’re not thinking about the vulnerable.
Now, they’ll tell you they are, but the
actions tell a different story. For instance,
they knew very well, and I know that they
were being advised by health experts
to close the borders before the school
holidays. And they didn’t. It got out. It’s all
over the place now.
“So, I closed Maroba’s borders to
Victorians at the beginning of the school
holidays, even though the government
hadn’t.”
Another pressing issue for Allanson and
Maroba is access to PPE, and when we
spoke they had nearly run out of gloves
and were unable to source a new batch.
Government help has been lacking and
she believes that the government will only
act if, and when, an outbreak occurs at
a facility.
“We are desperately ringing every
supplier we can find, and have done for
months, to get PPE through the door,”
she said.
“I’ve written to our local member, I’ve
written to the minister, I’ve raised it with
every authority I can possibly raise it with.
Stop telling everybody that there’s this
wonderful stuff called PPE, and that you’ll
give it to us when we have COVID. We’re
trying to stop getting COVID. We’re trying
to take preventative measures.
“And remember, the whole of the aged
care sector was railroaded because we
dared to protect people. And we did a very
good job. Now, look what’s happened in
Victoria. Because the Victorian aged care
providers are following the guidelines that
the government issued them. Now, it’s 35
facilities that have COVID in them; you try
turning that back.
“We’ve rung the government store, we
have rung all of those places, we’ve rung
the public health unit, we have rung our
local area health service, and they say ‘oh
no, well, when you get COVID, we’ll send
out something’. Not good enough.”
Maroba is currently in the midst of
a picornavirus outbreak and Allanson
feels like the home and its residents are