Victoria’s second coronavirus wave saw 820 people lose their lives with 45 and 38 of those being residents of St Basil’s Home for the Aged and Epping Gardens Aged Care respectively.
A recent independent report revealed that frontline workers hired to replace furloughed staff at the two Victorian nursing homes were not equipped enough to deal with infection control.
Most of the staff had little to no experience in aged care with poor or basic English skills. Meanwhile, the aged care facilities’ operators did not have up to standard infection control training, emergency planning or sufficient leadership.
The review, which was commissioned by the Federal Government, was penned by immunology and infectious diseases professor Lyn Gilbert and former hospital head Alan Lilly.
Another issue that came into light was that crisis management was impeded even more by the inefficient contact tracing system, the delays in pathology testing and lack of available staff.
“These stark numbers do not begin to convey the trauma and grief suffered by all residents … and the enormous impact on their families,” the report highlighted.
“They do not account for the distress of staff members, who knew and had cared for residents for long periods but were quarantined and obliged to leave them in the care of ‘strangers’, Dr Gilbert and Dr Lilly agreed.
“Most had little experience in aged care, and many spoke only basic English. With little preparation or supervision, it is not surprising that many did not stay and those who did, were quite likely traumatised,” they stressed regarding the staff that managed St Basil’s and Epping Gardens cases during the second outbreak.
