A message from our COO – Joe Gaudiosi

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought numerous lockdowns and visitor restrictions, testing the aged care industry like never before. The last year has no doubt been trying at Blue Haven and I would like to acknowledge the resilience of our staff and also the patience and understanding of our residents, clients and families during what has been a difficult period.

I know that staff work incredibly hard and continue to provide outstanding care for our residents. That is no mean feat, especially given the challenges faced every day at work but acknowledging that staff have their own families and friends who have been impacted during the pandemic, so I and the whole Council Management team sincerely appreciate their effort and commitment.

In addition to issues due to the ongoing pandemic such as high staff turnover and general staff availability due to care staff shortages, we are further challenged at present by the complexity of the many new reforms and reporting requirements originating from the Aged Care Royal Commission in 2021.

Applying the new reforms requires significant staff resources in the initial learning and planning followed by the implementation process and the associated staff training. In an industry where more than 60% of residential aged care homes in Australia are operating at a loss, we are no different. The Federal Government’s aged care reform agenda applies to both Residential and Community Care and the reform agenda continues up to 2026.

We are however, pleased to announce that Blue Haven’s Residential Aged Care Facility has received Accreditation to April 2025 from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission following a recent accreditation assessment, notwithstanding the difficult operating context and challenges noted above.

The NSW Retirement Village Act regulated through the NSW Office of Fair Trading also increased its regulatory requirements of providers this year and is expected to increase in the next few years.

2023 will be busy with continuous improvement both operationally and financially while implementing the new aged care reforms. And if we didn’t have enough to do, we are also preparing for an upcoming Accreditation assessment visit for our Community Services Home Care program.

Blue Haven is committed, as ever to an open dialogue with our community and the care and wellbeing of our Blue Haven residents and service users is paramount in our operations. We understand the financial and governance issues of Council and the recent decision committing to the sale of the Bonaira component (subject to the completion of the Blue Haven land reclassification process) has and will continue to cause concern for some of you.

To our loyal Blue Haven staff and volunteers, thank you for your invaluable hard work and commitment, and keeping our residents and clients safe and well. To our amazing clients and families, we thank you for your continued support.