At HenderCare, we have been closely monitoring developments and advice surrounding COVID-19 (coronavirus). During this challenging time, we wanted to assure you that we are committed to continuing with a ‘business as normal’ approach and are dedicated to ensuring the ongoing safe delivery of essential services in the community.
We will continue to follow, and act on, the advice provided by the Australian Government Department of Health and other regulatory bodies. The health and safety of our service recipients and team members remains at the forefront of all of our decisions.
HenderCare has now implemented a number of operational changes, some of which you will experience during your service(s). Below we have outlined some of these key changes and encourage you to call HenderCare on 1300 764 433 if you have any questions regarding the below.
Increased cross infection controls
To minimise the chance of any cross infection between HenderCare team members and service recipients, we have implemented the following measures:
– service recipients are not required to sign timesheets during COVID-19
– service recipients are not required to provide cash for co-payments during COVID-19 (this will be invoiced at a later date)
– for assistance with food shopping, our preference will be that team members sit down and help service recipients place an online food order instead of going to the local supermarket
– during transport services, service recipients are now required to sit in the rear passenger seat of the vehicle
COVID-19 Questions
When a HenderCare team member arrives to your service, before entering your home and whilst maintaining social distancing, they will ask you the following questions:
• Have you travelled overseas in the last 14 days?
• SA, WA, TAS & QLD: Have you recently returned from interstate travel?
• Do you suspect you have been exposed to or contracted COVID-19?
• Do you currently have flu-like symptoms such as coughing, sore throat or shortness of breath?
If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, the team member is required to call a HenderCare Coordinator to seek further advice.
Telehealth services
To promote social distancing and the reduction of non-essential outings, we are also currently implementing online or Telehealth service delivery. This will not be possible for all services, including personal care, home & garden maintenance or domestic assistance, but may provide another option for those engaged in services such as allied health. To find out more about our Telehealth services, please call us on 1300 764 433.
With an aim to reduce the handling of paper during this time, we also encourage you to regularly review our COVID-19 webpage by clicking here. This page will be updated frequently and contains useful links to documents, including HenderCare’s COVID-19 Easy Read download and other helpful health links and numbers. If we have urgent information to send you, we will be doing this by text message and directing you to our website.
If you have concerns around your own health or your exposure to the coronavirus we ask that you please call your local medical officer for further information. If you need to cancel or postpone a shift, our team are here to take your call 24/7. Please be sure to call HenderCare as soon as possible if you have a suspected exposure or confirmed case of the virus.
Please take care of yourself during this period and follow the advice provided by the Department of Health. HenderCare is here to support you during this time.