Professor Joseph Ibrahim says aged care residents who test positive for COVID-19 should be sent to hospital – because it is too difficult to prevent PPE breaches

The Professor of forensic medicine and Head of the Health Law and Ageing Research Unit at Monash University says residents at Newmarch House should not have been allowed to remain at the home after being diagnosed because staff lack the training to properly wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Speaking as part of a feature in The Guardian about what Australian can do to prevent a ‘second wave’ of COVID-19 infections, Professor Ibrahim said gloves, face masks and gowns are difficult for even experienced hospital staff to wear properly.

“Staff aren’t trained to do this, they shouldn’t be criticised,” he said. “They’re now being asked to have a level of attention to detail regarding infection control that you would normally see in a highly specialised hospital unit, what you’d normally see with oncology patients.”

As we covered here, there have been reports of staff breaching PPE protocols, including a staff member from Aspen Medical, the agency contracted by the Federal Government to provide operators that experience outbreaks with a ‘surge’ workforce.

“It’s not as straightforward as everyone thinks,” Professor Ibrahim added. “Let’s say there’s 30 staff, and they’ve got to see a resident three times a day. That means they have to put on and take off PPE 90 times, which is 180 conditions of use. So, if they follow it right 90% of the time, then there’s still 18 breaches.”

The Professor argues it is too late to evacuate remaining COVID-19 positive residents to stop the spread in Newmarch. However, he says that the State Governments should get involved in the federally funded and regulated sector and appoint aged care home ‘controllers’ to be in charge of groups of homes, and for them to report infections and issues regarding PPE and management to health authorities as soon as they happen. Will the States and Territories take this advice on board?