FRIDAY, 29 MAY 2020
Our updated three-stage recovery plan for COVID-19 for ESSA members
Find out the latest on the lifting of restrictions for non-essential services (e.g. large gyms, fitness centres, swimming pools and outdoor classes) and dates for Stage 2 for the ACT, SA and Victoria, along with other updates for aged care. Keep this guide as your go-to document for all the latest on what you can and cannot do.
Read our plan to help you navigate the latest COVID-19 policies here.
ESSA Telepractice Toolkit & Standards
We’re excited to share our Telepractice Toolkit and template resources.
This suite of resources includes a ‘how-to’ guide for those getting started with Telepractice, information to support generating referrals and a research snapshot.
Click here for the Toolkit and accompanying resources.
ESSA has also commenced the development of a full suite of Telepractice Standards which will be published in July 2020 to further support members in delivering best practice teleservices. These Standards build on the current Telepractice Policy Statement which provides interim guidelines to facilitate members to pivot practice service delivery in response to COVID-19.
(Remember, these resources are exclusive to ESSA members so you will need to log into the Members Lounge to access them.)
New High Court Ruling on Casual Employees
A full bench of the Federal Court handed down its long-awaited decision on 27 May 2020 that held regular, ongoing casuals are entitled to paid annual leave, paid personal/carer’s leave and paid compassionate leave. Employers cannot use extra pay to set off that liability.
The Minister for Industrial Relations, the Hon. Christian Porter MP may make changes to the Fair Work Act in the wake of the Federal Court ruling.
The ruling upturns the common understanding of casuals as those who are paid an extra 20 to 25 per cent loading in lieu of permanent employee entitlements, defining them by their pattern of work instead.
You can find more information here in this Financial Review news article.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is reviewing the information about the characteristics of casual employment to make sure it hasn’t changed because of this decision and it will be updating its website soon.
Strawberry Seed, ESSA’s Human Resources partner, is developing a resource for ESSA members which will be available next week. ESSA recommends you wait to read this resource first and if you need to seek advice on this issue, then book a free appointment with a HR Advisor from Strawberry Seed here. Please note, you need to join (with a complimentary membership) the ESSA Business Network first here if you are not already a member to book a free appointment with a HR Advisor.
Business Support - JobKeeper (absolute last date to enrol is this Sunday 31 May 2020)
All your FAQs answered and link to enrol here.
Small business grants
You may be eligible for a small business grant. Each state and territory has a range of grants to support businesses.
Click the relevant link to see if you are eligible for assistance:
ACT | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA | NSW (be quick closes 1 June 2020.)
Impact of COVID-19 on Businesses
A recent Grattan Institute Report here confirms what ESSA members have been telling us:
“The situation is less clear when it comes to ‘health care and social assistance’. This industry is large and diverse, encompassing nurses in public hospitals, who are very unlikely to lose their jobs during this crisis, as well as workers who are more vulnerable to job loss. For example, allied health workers in private practice and a range of social care occupations are more at risk of being out of work. Our preferred method suggests about a quarter of jobs in this industry are at risk.”
The most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics report (4 May 2020) on Business Indicators, Business Impacts of COVID-19 highlights the impact of COVID-19 on the broader healthcare and social assistance; and arts and recreation services sectors with the three worst anticipated business impacts being the:
- reduced demand for goods or services
- reduced cash flow and
- government restrictions.
Summary - Department of Health COVID-19 Primary Care and Allied Health Webinar 28 May 2020
(with Ms. Catherine Turnbull, Chief Allied and Scientific Health Officer, Department of Health and Wellbeing, South Australia in attendance)
- National Reconciliation Week (NRW) occurs between 27 May - 3 June.
- Point of care COVID-19 tests are being used in remote communities.
- 1.3 million COVID-19 tests have been done since the start of COVID-19.
- The Australian Government has announced extra funding for palliative care.
- An additional 2,000,000 flu vaccines will be available this week. This makes a total of 18,000,000 vaccines made available this year. A reminder the flu vaccine is compulsory if you are working in aged care.
- 122 respiratory clinics now operating across Australia, many in rural communities.
- 500 COVID-19 testing sites around Australia including the fever clinics.
- 6.1 million people are using the COVIDSafe app. Don’t forget to encourage your clients to sign up.
- Reminder that free infection control training is available for all health care workers, office staff and cleaners.
Telehealth
- 70,400 providers have delivered 11.6 million telehealth consults since 13 March 2020.
- Community allied health teams are delivering telehealth to all remote communities in the NT.
- Free telehealth skills training package developed by NT Government for NT residents (details under State News below).
- Consider four elements of telehealth:
- Practice setting
- Clinical need
- Workforce requirements
- Telehealth delivery approach.
- Tripling of telehealth delivered by SA Government in the last two months in SA.
- Fourteen days without symptoms and feeling well is a good guide before seeing those who have recovered from COVID-19.
- Bringing clients back to in-person sessions is up to each practitioner. Review local cases of COVID-19 before making a decision.
- Australian Government is monitoring costs of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The Government is expecting costs to come down with more supply coming online.
Recording of the webinar available here. ESSA anticipates the next webinar will be on Thursday 11 June 2020 and will confirm details when they are available.
For the first time, the Department has provided a written set of answers to questions from the previous webinar on 14 May 2020. One answer given was about numbers for indoor small allied health groups:
“For clinical interventions by allied health professionals, group services could occur in small numbers, meeting the 4m2 rule for internal rooms, without sharing equipment, unless it is thoroughly cleaned between participants.”
In the continued absence of any details on numbers in groups from the Australian Government, please continue to follow ESSA’s recommendations on groups as below (subject to the 4m2 rule for indoor spaces, ESSA’s 140 m2 limit for essential small gyms delivering essential exercise physiology services and any over-riding guidance from your state or territory):
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Stage 1
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Stage 2
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Stage 3
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4 (1 x AEP, 3 x clients)
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10 (1 x AEP, 9 x clients or 2 x AEPs, each with 4 clients) OR as per guidelines from your state or territory government on exercise groups
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As per compensable scheme limits i.e. Medicare up to 12 clients, Private Health Insurance up to 8 clients and your clinical judgement with other groups
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Open letter from a coalition of all of the major health profession and consumer peak bodies
Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) on your behalf produced this open letter aimed at encouraging people to see their health professionals. If you have clients with any of the conditions covered by the peak health bodies listed below, then consider using this letter in your marketing efforts.
Diabetes Australia, The Heart Foundation, Royal Australian College of General Practice, National Rural Health Alliance, Australian Primary Health Nurses Association, Australian Diabetes Society, Consumers Health Forum, Allied Health Professions Australia, Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, Medicines Australia, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Australian Diabetes Educators Association, Australian Cardiovascular Alliance, Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation, Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, The Pharmacy Guild, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Patient Voice Initiative, Australian Patients Association, Jean Hailes Foundation, Medical Technology Association of Australia, Pathology Technology Australia, Pathology Awareness Australia
Video Message of Support for Allied Health Professionals
A video message raising awareness of allied health professionals and reassurance to the public was posted this week from Dr Nick Coatsworth. He is one of the Deputy Chief Medical Officers at the Department of Health. It is just the first minute or so. Please feel free to use this video to promote your services.
Updated Fact Sheets from the Disability COVID-19 Response Committee
The following fact sheets have now been published on the Department of Health’s Advice for People with Disability website page here:
- Information for Families
- Information for Disability Support Providers and Workers
- Guide to personal protective equipment (PPE) for disability care providers
- Information for support workers and carers on coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for people with a disability
- Information for Health Workers in Emergency Departments
- Information for Health Workers
- Information for Health and Mental Health Workers
- Information for Primary Health Care Staff
- Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guide for Home Care Providers
FYI, Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) represents ESSA on this Committee.
Updated Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guide for Home Care Providers
The Department of Health has released an updated Coronavirus Guide for Home Care Providers. This guide is for providers of aged care and disability services who offer home care and support services to older people living at home and people with disability living in the community. It provides information and guidance on how to stay safe from coronavirus (COVID-19).
NDIS Low Cost Assistive Technology Information Pack
The NDIA has released an information pack on Low Cost Assistive Technology for providers, participants, their families and carers to better understand the new flexible approach to purchasing low cost Assistive Technology including smart devices to support telehealth. This includes updated requirements for providers to send written confirmation to [email protected] with the subject “Low cost AT flexibility evidence” before submitting a payment request.
Senate Inquiry into COVID-19
ESSA lodged a comprehensive submission to the Senate Inquiry into COVID-19 yesterday 28 May 2020.
Some of our key recommendations included calls for:
- introducing permanent telehealth items for allied health
- more recognition and resources for allied health including an Australian Government Chief Allied Health Officer
- extending the JobKeeper scheme and current COVID-19 JobSeeker payment levels until 31 December 2020
- ESSA also outlined the difficult circumstances of how COVID-19 has impacted on our exercise scientists and sports scientists.
ESSA calls for ACCC to extend telehealth item codes for Private Health Australia
ESSA provided a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recommending that it approve Private Healthcare Australia Limited’s (PHA) application for authorisation (AA1000487) to extend AEP telehealth item codes for Australian Private Health Insurers for a further six months from the date of the ACCC’s final determination. Our submission advocated:
for both the ACCC and PHA should work towards the provision of item codes as an ongoing offering to members beyond the interim period, established in response to the coronavirus pandemic. ESSA does not perceive that there is public detriment, or anti-competitive behaviour, as all health insurers have the opportunity to implement the COVID-19 measures and to continue utilising the new item codes beyond the pandemic to optimise disease prevention and health outcomes for their members; and
that ESSA does not perceive public detriment, or anti-competitive behaviour, as all health insurers have the opportunity to implement the COVID-19 measures and to continue utilising the new item codes, however, we cautioned that the downside of telehealth being available is that clients can access services from any provider across the nation and post-COVID-19, this will increase competition for local face-to-face services and may impact on their viability.
The ACCC’s assessment of authorisation applications is informed by consultation and submissions will be published here on the ACCC’s public register in the coming weeks.
Call for JobKeeper wage subsidy program to be extended
The Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has warned of a post-coronavirus shadow over the economy, saying the JobKeeper wage subsidy program may have to be extended or tapered to support the recovery. Read more in this Sydney Morning Herald news article here.
Rural Doctors Alliance and Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine COVID-19 Rural and Remote Response - the importance of teams
The COVID virus has made us all think how we refer across the Primary Healthcare system and how we work in teams. The reality for rural and remote locations is that they cannot afford to live on the edge of workforce viability and sustainability when situations like this arise. The building blocks for success involve skills and approaches that care for our fragile solo practitioners thereby strengthening and supporting them to be part of something more robust.
Tips for the workplace and your team:
- Recognise people are struggling
People are struggling on many different levels involving both their work and personal lives. It is important to validate and acknowledge these feelings and the situation.
Recognise where everyone in your team is at in regard to their mental health, take time to sit back and observe and talk to staff. Find a champion of wellbeing in your team who can help you look after your staff, engage them in activities and be a listening ear.
Create a space that provides an opportunity for staff to be open and honest about their experiences and how they are feeling as well as to provide a place to connect with others in the team.
One example might be to start mental health Mondays where everyone has an opportunity to sit down and chat about what they are going through together.
Making the most of now; unintended benefits of COVID-19
Many people are now cleaning, A LOT!! This is a great unintended benefit allowing everyone to relish in the fact that the coffee room/kitchen is now spotless and is a nice place to gather. It’s also an opportunity to add to the cleaning by getting rid of old magazines or papers that are no longer needed. Very cathartic!
Spending more time in the office: take this opportunity to make it a greener more inviting space.
Build on people’s own knowledge: Most people already know what makes them feel better or improves their mood, give them the opportunities to do those things and connect.
Examples: Healthy mind planner with building blocks of wellbeing, random acts of kindness day.
- Create purpose out of chaos
Control what you can, use this time to drive service improvement and innovate in ways you haven’t before. Quality improvement gives a sense of achievement in a period of chaos.
State News
NSW – Workers’ Compensation for COVID-19
Are you an employer of staff in NSW?
The NSW Workers Compensation Act 1987 has been amended to include responses to the COVID19 pandemic. As part of these amendments a new section 19B has been introduced. This section outlines that if an employee is diagnosed with COVID-19, then it will be presumed that they contracted the virus at work, even if this is not the case.
The impact on employers is that it will be your responsibility to prove that the virus was contracted away from work. This ruling applies to a range of industries including the healthcare, aged care facilities and disability sectors, which encompasses service delivery in the exercise and sports science area.
FAQs from the NSW Government’s WorkCover Independent Review Office (WIRO) here.
Bartier Perry Lawyers has produced an article with more background called ‘Presumption of Injury for prescribed workers contracting COVID-19’ here.
Visit Safe Work Australia for information on creating safe workplaces during COVID-19.
Northern Territory
Free Telehealth Course: HLTSS00043 Telehealth Administration skill set
Apply & Enrol by 30 June 2020, Charles Darwin University
This skill set provides a set of skills to coordinate and support the provision of Telehealth services in health or community services organisations. This is delivered in Darwin at the Casuarina campus over a period of 6 months.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
To study in this program, students’ must be employed in a health care facility/clinic where they have access to appropriate telehealth technology.
4 x UNITS
- HLTADM002 Manage Telehealth technology
- HLTADM001 Administer and coordinate Telehealth services
- CHCDIV001 Work with diverse people
- CHCDIV002 Promote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety
Theory training is undertaken externally but is supplemented with tutorials provided via video conferencing, Skype, emails and/or telephone conversations. Practical work is undertaken in a health care facility/clinic where candidates may be currently employed. The students will follow Australian Government advice regarding social distancing, personal hygiene, and when and how to isolate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To be eligible for a free place, you must be a resident in the Northern Territory. More information here.
INCYI – from last week: WA – Free temporary allied health access to HealthDirect video platform
Various Primary Health Networks (PHNs) have started supporting local allied health practitioners to access the HealthDirect video platform, based on the Coviu platform. Practitioners accessing this Commonwealth funded opportunity will have access through to 30 June 2020. You can find out more about the HealthDirect platform at this link: HealthDirect Video Call platform. For practices that wish to arrange for a HealthDirect clinic to be created, they should please visit the Practice Assist website .