Our response to COVID-19

Silverchain Group has acted swiftly in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have a proud pioneering history of delivering expert, compassionate care, often for people who are at their most vulnerable.

While we are all still navigating life through the challenges of COVID-19, we are seeing first-hand the resilience of our communities across Australia, and the resilience of our own organisation as we move from pandemic to endemic.

Throughout the pandemic, we have implemented a range of actions, policies, procedures and training to enhance our protection against COVID-19 and to continue to provide the best quality and safest care for our clients. We monitor all government requirements and advice in relation to COVID-19 to ensure the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our clients, staff and the communities in which we work and live.

This commitment to caring for our communities through the most challenging times is built into what we stand for as a healthcare organisation. Throughout our 125-year history, Silverchain Group has maintained a strong and proud legacy of working to keep the communities we serve safe and healthy, especially during challenging times.

We thank all of our clients, families and carers for their support of, and participation in, our safety measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Together, we are helping to keep one another healthy and well.

Dale Fisher
CEO
Silverchain Group

COVID-19 Vaccinations and Testing

Silverchain Group staff have stepped up to protect the communities we serve and get vaccinated, with the vast majority of our people fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This is in line with our mandatory staff vaccination policy that ensures every staff member who visits our clients is vaccinated, and we are working towards a 100 per cent staff vaccination target.

We welcome the priority access to vaccinations for health and aged care workers. We also have onsite access to vaccines for our employees in South Australia.

Our staff are asked to stay home when they are unwell and to get tested for COVID-19, no matter how mildly they experience any COVID-19 symptoms.

We also ask our clients to let us know if they, or any of their family and friends, are awaiting COVID-19 test results or have been in a COVID-19 exposure site so we can make appropriate arrangements.

Easing of restrictions

We are seeing both international and interstate borders beginning to re-open, allowing people to reconnect in person with family and loved ones once again. While we are still navigating life through the COVID-19 pandemic, we will continue to apply stringent safety and infection control measures to maintain community safety.

Our drive to protect and care for the communities we serve is strongly linked with our enduring purpose. It is our vision to provide the world’s best health and aged care in the home so Australians can confidently live their lives as they choose. We have developed and implemented COVID-19 Safe Plans across our operations in each state to continue to safely provide the best quality care.

We have risen to the challenge the pandemic presented, and remain focused on the needs of our patients and clients:

We will continue to deliver our health and aged care services across Australia.
We will continue to monitor the situation closely and prepare for a range of contingencies based on government advice and our own experience.
We are working with government health authorities to increase the capacity for out-of-hospital care and reduce the pressure on the acute health system.
We will continue to update our policies and procedures to align with the latest government advice.
We understand the importance of psychosocial health and wellbeing and we are communicating regularly with our staff, clients, partners and communities with clear, consistent and practical information and advice.
We have expanded the use of telehealth and other virtual technologies to deliver care and keep our community connected.
Our Social Centres have now reopened within our new COVID-safe environment.