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Posted 9 July 2021- Participants, Carers and Guardians, COVID-19 Update To all Participants, Carers and Guardians,
We write to update you in relation to the NSW Government’s announcement of an extension and tightening of restrictions for another week, which will be in-place until Friday July 16, but are likely to be extended. As always, the protection of our participants, customers, ourselves, our families, colleagues, and the wider community is paramount, so we would like to take this opportunity to outline the new rules and how this will continue to impact our services:
The general rules announced two weeks ago, have been tightened. Anyone who lives and/or works in Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast or Wollongong, can only leave home for four main reasons:
1. Essential shopping – only one member of the household at a time (no browsing) 2. Medical care or compassionate needs. There are no restrictions to getting a vaccination. 3. Exercise outdoors for 2 people together and only within 10KM of where you live 4. Essential work or Education.
Easy English advice can be read here: https://cid.org.au/our-stories/nsw-government-coronavirus-rules-for-sydney/ For further information on reasonable excuses to leave home, please visit: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rules/greater-sydney#reasonable-excuse-to-leave-home
Disability Care services are all operating including Day Programs, direct supports, therapy and respite. Activities will be Covid- safe which might mean some changes for participants at this time. In Group Homes, all visitors have to be excluded and only allowed to visit on exceptional grounds, and surgical masks must be worn. As with the wider Greater Sydney community, people receiving supports must only leave home if they have a reasonable excuse. Group homes including the homes located at Casuarina Grove - Participants may still leave home for groups and day programs (following COVID-safe rules) and any of the four reasons given above.
Our day programs are operating under COVIDSafe rules, including:
Hunter/Newcastle and Mid North Coast
Mask wearing continues for staff and visitors in all Disability services including Group Homes In Group Homes:
We expect these arrangements to be in place until midnight Friday 16 July, but we will keep you updated on any changes.
You are allowed to leave home for a COVID-19 Vaccine. We have been working with participants, families, guardians and employees to support everyone to get a vaccine. There are many ways to get a vaccine and our participants can be supported to use any of them. These include:
Mid North Coast
The Local Health District has contacted us about administering Pfizer & AstraZeneca (AZ) at group homes in that region. Vaccinations will be held on different days for the different vaccines to avoid confusion. You will be contacted as soon as we hear any further information. We are looking for Pfizer for anyone under 60. Over 60s may be offered the Astra Zeneca. If anyone under 60 wants to book Astra Zeneca they should talk with their GP first before they make a final decision.
We’d like to thank you for your continued usage of our services, as we aim to be as understanding and accommodating as possible during this difficult time. If you would like any further information, please contact either your usual Ability Options contact, or me. Stay safe. Kind regards, Julia Squire CEO Ability Options Posted 1 July 2021
We write to update you in relation to the NSW Government announced strict restrictions for the next two weeks from 6pm Saturday, 26th June to Midnight, Friday 9th July. As always, the protection of our participants, customers, ourselves, our families, colleagues, and the wider community is paramount so we would like to take this opportunity to outline the new rules and how it will impact on our services:
1. Essential shopping
2. Medical care or compassionate needs. There are no restrictions to getting a vaccination.
4. Essential work or education
We acknowledge there are Regional differences with advice on staying safe during this time. We will continue to update you with the latest information, when it is made available.
For further information on reasonable excuses to leave home, please visit: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rules/greater-sydney#reasonable-excuse-to-leave-home
Our day programs are operating under COVIDSafe rules, including.
We expect these arrangements to be in place until Friday 9 July, but we will keep you updated on any changes.
• Charlestown - Level 1/6 Chapman St, Charlestown NSW 2290 on Tuesday 6 July and Wednesday 7 July 2021
CHARLESTOWN HUB DOSE 1
Wednesday 7 July - https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/hca-disability-covid-19-vaccination-dose-1-clinic-charlestown-day-2-tickets-160708356019
SEVEN HILLS HUB DOSE 1
Wednesday 14 July - https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/hca-disability-covid-19-vaccination-dose-1-clinic-seven-hills-day-2-tickets-160710494415
These sites will operate under the relevant COVID restrictions in place at the time and we will keep you updated as information comes to hand. MID NORTH COAST Local Health has contacted us about administering Pfizer & AstraZeneca (AZ) at group homes in that region. Vaccinations will be held on different days for the different vaccines to avoid confusion. You will be contacted as soon as we hear any further information. We’d like to thank you for your continued usage of our services, as we aim to be as understanding and accommodating as possible during this difficult time. Kind regards, Julia Squire CEO Ability Options
Posted 28 August 2020
Localised NSW COVID-19 Outbreaks
Posted 23 July 2020 Dear Participants, Families and Guardians, As you will be aware there has been an increase in diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in NSW recently. These are currently occurring in a number of locations across NSW, particularly in South West Sydney. We are all focused on reducing and stopping community transmission to contain the spread. Our priority is the safety of our customers, participants, employees, families and the wider community. We continue to follow Government advice and Directives. With this in mind NSW Health has released new Guidelines and requirements for Disability Service Providers. Providers are required to make immediate changes to the way we operate until further notice to keep everyone safe. These changes mean that all staff currently living or working in Liverpool, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Camden, Wingecarribee, and Wollondilly Local Government Areas (LGAs) MUST wear surgical masks at all times when in Ability Options’ Group homes or Day Programs. We do not have employees who live in these LGA and work in our Day Programs. Therefore these requirements currently affect our group homes at:
The requirements also mean that, unfortunately, family visits to loved ones in Rossmore, Ellis Lane and Catherine Fields Group homes will need to be restricted until further notice. If you require a visit to one of these Group Homes and feel your reason is essential, please contact one of our managers to discuss prior to attending. In addition all visitors to Ability Options group homes in Sydney, Hunter and the Mid North Coast will be screened prior to access, to ensure they have not recently been in any of the COVID-19 ‘Sydney Hot Spots’ which can be found here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/latest-news-and-updates Ability Options provide supports to, and employs, a number of people with medical vulnerabilities across many of our group homes and Disability Services. We anticipate that NSW Health will continue to update this advice as we progress through the current COVID-19 outbreaks and community transmission and we will provide further updates as we receive them. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us info@abilityoptions.org.au for assistance. Thank you for your support during these challenging times. Best wishes Julia Squire CEO Ability Options
Dear Participants, Families and Guardians,
As you know, there is ongoing and growing concern about the spread of COVID-19 also known as Coronavirus. Our priority is the health and safety of our participants and their families, and our wonderful employees.
Ability Options is complying with Australian Government Department of Health advice and requirements which you can find at www.health.gov.au and all legislation, whether State or Commonwealth. We appreciate that not all Government advice has been consistent in this fast moving event.
COVID-19 will continue to have an impact on our services here at Ability Options, as it is everywhere else. Due to the recent announcements made by our Prime Minister, we have no other choice but to suspend until further notice the following services:
These changes are scheduled to occur formally from Monday 30 March 2020 until further notice. However, most of these have already ceased operating as participants have already chosen to stay at home.
We are working to keep everyone safe at Ability Options – our staff, participants, families and carers, contractors and suppliers, business customers, and all others who use our services and sites. NDIA Announcements
With recent positive announcements made by the NDIA in response to COVID-19, all participants will have their plans extended by 12 – 24 months from the expiry date. In addition to this, all participants will now have access to Support Coordination through CORE funding to ensure participants and their families have additional supports in this time. This will help us coordinate essential supports that will assist you and/or your family whilst these requirements are enforced by our Australian Government to keep us all as safe as possible.
The NDIA have also increased some prices to assist organisations to continue supporting vulnerable people in this difficult time. Ability Options will claim all services in line with the updated price guide as outlined within out service user agreement.
If you haven’t spoken to an Ability Options team member yet (this includes people accessing services through Mid North Coast Disability Services) you will be contacted soon to discuss safe alternatives for services for your loved ones. We do want to walk beside you throughout this very difficult time.
Ability Options employees affected by these changes are being offered redeployment opportunities within the organisation, including options to support you or your loved one at home over the coming weeks and months if that is suitable for you.
If you would like to discuss Support Coordination, please contact Intake
For more information and up to date messages from Ability Options, please go to our website www.abilityoptions.org.au and click on the COVID-19 button.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us via info@abilityoptions.org.au
Yours sincerely
Julia Squire CEO Ability Options
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We want you to be confident that we are planning and acting calmly. We have robust Emergency Plans which we updated recently and they are in place and operating well to ensure that everyone’s safety and the quality of our services are our priority. We are acting responsibly our actions are consistent with government and medical advice. We are taking a cautious and careful approach and are planning now so that we are prepared as the situation is expected to worsen. We strongly recommend that you take the same advice regarding hand hygiene and social distancing. Please do not attend our sites, services or Group Homes if you are unwell or showing flu like symptoms including a sore throat, cough, fever or difficulty breathing or have recently returned from overseas. Please wash your hands thoroughly when you enter one of our sites.
What is Ability Options doing to create a safe environment?
Telehealth Services Available
Telehealth services will be available for people who:
https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/03/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-families-and-residents-on-restricted-visits-to-residential-aged-care-facilities.pdf
This includes information that providers will be encouraged to limit visits under national guidelines aimed at the prevention and control of coronavirus.
https://www.health.gov.au/ We need to acknowledge that at some point, this may mean that non-essential services may need to cease or be limited for a while. We are working on contingency planning to reduce the impact on our participants and employees. We will keep you informed and provide as much lead-time possible if this is looking likely.
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