LEISURE NETWORKS COVID-19 Update – 9 April 2020
With the Easter Break upon us, a time when many of us would have gone out together with family and friends enjoying all that our wonderful community has to offer, or packed the car for a road trip is unfortunately something we cannot do over this Easter Long weekend.
I am writing to you to let you know that we are all in this together, and we know that many people we support and their families are needing important supports at this challenging time. We are doing everything we can to continue to support all our customers.
The health and safety of our customers, staff and communities is our priority and is the single most important issue when making decisions at Leisure Networks.
It is our duty of care to provide a safe, health promoting work environment that minimises risks of exposure.
With the latest announcements from the state and federal governments around COVID-19, all Community Programs are on hold until 30 June at this stage unless there is a lifting of the measures by the Victorian Government related to social distancing and self-isolation practices. Programs include:
- All community group programs and Social Saturdays for Geelong and Werribee communities
- Weekends away and holidays
Supports we can provide to help keep customers healthy, safe and connected
- Supporting people in their home or single night 1:1 respite services outside the home
- Assisting with house cleaning, gardening and meal preparation
- Taking people to appointments or early morning shopping
- One to one supports for safe outdoor activities
- Picking up medicines, shopping or other essentials
- Conducting online learning and research as part of SLES or other NDIS goals
Support Coordination Services
Support coordinators continue to provide important support at this time. Our staff are working from home and all communication is being conducted via online conferencing or telephone. This means we can keep delivering the excellent quality of support our customers are used to receiving from Leisure Networks.
With the recent changes the NDIA has made to all participant plans in response to COVID-19 pandemic, you can now access this service through your Core budget so that you can have a coordinated and planned approach to accessing the supports you require throughout this time.
We have highly experienced Support Coordinators here and ready to help you!
If you think you need this assistance please call us on (03) 5222 3911.
Financial Plan Management
We have increased our staffing to support you
We will:
- Deliver continuity of service for customers and providers
- Make payments within 3 business days of receiving invoices, wherever possible
- Ensure cash flow for providers is not compromised through delays
- Prioritise safe working conditions for our staff
Important Information about Pricing under the NDIS:
- The NDIS has a cap on the amount that can be charged per hour for a range of services.
- We are unable to pay providers from a participant’s plan for services chargedhigher than the NDIS set rate.
- These rates are also GST exclusive. If your standard rates are above the NDIS rate, you will need to either reduce your rate or charge the participant separately for any gap in the fee.
- For more information on NDIS rates please refer to the NDIS website. https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/price-guides-and-information
We are still here and open for new business– so please don’t hesitate to contact us
We have a small team based at our Geelong Head Office.
We are continuing to on-board new customers and have established a telephone-based onboarding process, along with the use of recorded approvals and follow up documents.
Leisure Networks has a highly skilled, flexible and trusted workforce available to continue supporting those most vulnerable in our community.
We will continue as we have done in the past to recruit to meet demand and monitor this daily.
The best way to contact us during office hours (8.30am – 5.00pm) is to call our Customer Engagement Team on phone 5222 3911.
In this very uncertain time, we want to continue ensuring our customers are safe and still feel connected – we have an incredibly skilled team that can assist with making this happen.
While I appreciate this is an uncertain time, and that the Easter holidays look very different this year with most of our Easter plans cancelled, the health and safety of all our customers, staff and communities is our number one priority.
Stay safe and take care everyone,
Libby
CEO Leisure Networks
RESOURCES
Leisure Networks Leadership team has established a COVID-19 working group which meet daily to share information and respond to any incidents and issues and discuss actions for the day.
We continue to update business continuity plans regularly based on the latest advice from the both the State and Federal Governments with the aim of ensuring a safe workplace for our people and to enable our customers to be supported.
The Australian Government has enacted the Coronavirus Emergency Response Plan and the NDIA is taking necessary steps and providing regular updates: https://www.ndis.gov.au/coronavirus#latest
A trusted source of information is the dedicated page set up by the Australian Government’s Department of Health.
The Department of Health and Human Services has established a hotline where any member of the public can call to seek information on COVID-19 on 1800 675 398.
The DHHS website is: https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus
For further health information the number for Victoria’s ‘Nurse on Call’ is 1300 60 60 24
Smartraveller is monitoring closely the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and its implications for overseas travel. https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/news-and-updates/coronavirus-covid-1