Our response to COVID-19 Aged Care directives in Queensland

To prevent the spread of COVID-19 in aged care facilities, the Queensland government has extended its Aged Care Direction until at least the 2nd of October. Under this directive, the following requirements apply for all residential aged care facilities:

• A Workforce Management Plan must be actioned that requires staff to notify facilities of any additional places of employment, and that staff do not work across multiple care facilities
• All staff that have worked across multiple care sites must not enter a residential aged care facility without wearing the required PPE

This directive has had implications for facilities who rely on agency staff to fill gaps in their roster, as the potential for cross-contamination is heightened due to agency staff typically working across multiple facilities.

The health and safety of residents and staff is always the number one priority, being understaffed during this time can also lead to quality of care being jeopardised.

To mitigate this, Sidekicker has created a new service offering for aged care facilities in Queensland–providing exclusive agency workforces.

Exclusive Workforces – how it works

This service enables you to hire our staff to fill gaps in your roster at no additional cost, with the peace of mind and security that they are working exclusively at your facility.

We work with you to confirm your staffing requirements over a minimum two week roster, and then use our technology to match your roster requirements with qualified staff who are seeking equivalent hours, and lock in staff to your facility accordingly.

All staff (AINs, ENs, or RNs) have already been through our rigorous screening process which now includes a COVID-19 Infection and Prevention Control certificate requirement, as well as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) training.

We then assign workers exclusively to your facility, meaning they are only able to view and apply for your shifts.

Workers must complete several pre-shift processes, confirming that they have not worked at any other facilities, are not showing any or been in contact with anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, and understand all on-site COVID-19 Safe requirements.

We are providing this exclusive workforce service to aged care facilities such as Wesley Mission Queensland, Rockpool Residential Aged Care and Bethany Christian Care, enabling them to ensure no gaps in their roster whilst adhering to all government requirements and ensuring the health and safety of staff and residents.