Response to COVID-19 – Updated 17/07/2020

July 17, 2020.Katie Davies.0 Likes.0 Comments

Dear NRG community,

At Neuro Rehab Group we understand the importance of keeping all of our patients, families and staff safe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.   Our priority is to continue to provide the high quality of therapy service to keep you all at your best function during what is an unprecedented time in our lives.

We are keeping up with the latest information and take our advice from the Chief Health Officer at a state and federal level as well as our professional bodies the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) and Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA).

During stage three lockdowns services such as physiotherapy and exercise physiology are considered essential and therefore you are permitted to leave your house for treatment and therapy.

In order to keep our community safe we have initiated the following infection control measures:

  • We have separated our team so that we are not overlapping as much as usual, this has decreased the amount of people in the clinics at once to allow for social distancing. The result is that some of the clinicians are not coming through Mt Waverley as much as usual but we are all staying connected through virtual catch ups for regular supervision and support.
  • We have increased the disinfection of all staff, treatment and reception areas. Therapists are cleaning equipment after single use and there are regular cleans of the entire practice throughout the day by staff.
  • We have increased the frequency of our professional cleaning service.
  • We are taking temperatures at our Mt Waverley practice on arrival, please once you have your mask on make your way to reception so we can take your temperature.
  • We are requesting that only essential support people join the patients for their session. This includes patients that need physical, behavioral or translation support to get the most out of their therapy. If this is not essential we are requesting that people wait outside the clinic. Please discuss this with your therapist or our reception team.
  • At this stage and for the foreseeable future groups have been suspended, we are offering a number of these on telehealth or shortened versions one to one.

Masks:

Whilst not mandatory the Chief Health Officer and the Premier of Victoria have strongly encouraged the wearing of masks when social distancing is not possible. As you will be aware for many of you the nature of the service we provide to you falls into this category therefore we initiated the following on 10/07/2020:

  • Staff and clients as well as support personnel are to wear face masks in our clinics, there is a hand sanitization and face mask station at the door please use this on arrival
  • Staff will be wearing face masks at home visits, they will have masks for you if you do not have your own.

This is for the safety of both the therapists and our community.

Telehealth:
Our talented team of physiotherapist and exercise physiologists are now able to deliver assessment and treatment via telehealth.   The vestibular and concussion service have been offering this to interstate patients for some time now but since the COVID-19 restrictions commenced we have been offering this to more of our community to keep them going if they feel they can’t come in.   We have been doing everything from initial assessments through to group classes on telehealth. Please call and speak to your therapist or the reception team on how this might work for you.

Our third partners support telehealth including TAC / NDIS / DVA and Medicare.

Low threshold for sickness and cancelations:

During this time it is imperative that if you have any cold and flu like symptoms you must stay at home and isolate until you have recovered. We strongly advice that people who have been symptomatic get tested for Coronavirus. Staff know that if they are slightly unwell they are to call in sick and must get tested until they can return to work.

Symptoms of concern with relation to COVID-19 include:

  • Fever
  • Sore throat
  • Breathing difficulties, breathlessness
  • Cough
  • Fatigue or tiredness

If you have any of these symptoms please call the clinic and cancel your appointment.

We will get through this together:

We have an amazing community of people at NRG, staff, patients and families.   The overwhelming feeling amongst our people is that of gratitude that we can continue to help you and continue to provide support. Thank you to all our staff for being so flexible with adapting to change whether it be delivering telehealth or increased workload due to cleaning.   Thank you to our patients, families and carers for being understanding of the different measures we are putting in place. Although you may not see our smiles under the masks we are still a very happy team.   We are in this together and will get to the other side. If you have any questions about the service and how it can work best for you please call us on 98037755.

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