Emergency and Continuity of Support Plan

Purpose. This plan describes how Willow will keep supporting the people who depend on it during heatwaves, bushfires, floods, pandemics, power and system outages and workforce shortages.

1.Priority clients

Each program must maintain a list of clients whose safety depends on a Willow service, such as people who need help with medication, meals, personal care or who live alone with limited mobility or cognitive impairment. The list is flagged in the Client Register as Priority 1 and reviewed every quarter. In any disruption, Priority 1 clients are contacted first.

2.Activation

The Chief Executive Officer or the on-call manager will activate this plan when a disruption prevents rostered services from being delivered or puts clients or workers at risk. Activation is recorded, the leadership group is convened and program managers begin client welfare checks within two hours.

3.Heat, fire and flood

On days of extreme heat, coordinators will phone Priority 1 clients, check cooling and hydration and bring forward visits to the morning. On days of catastrophic fire danger, services in high risk areas will be delivered by phone unless a welfare visit is essential. Workers must not drive through floodwater or into areas under an evacuation order.

4.Infectious disease

Willow will follow directions from the Victorian Department of Health and the aged care and NDIS commissions. Workers must not attend shifts while unwell and must use personal protective equipment as directed. Where a client is infectious, the coordinator will roster the smallest number of workers to that client and inform them of the precautions.

5.System and power outage

Each hub holds a printed roster and Priority 1 client list updated every Friday. Where the Client Register or roster app is unavailable, coordinators will work from the printed copies and record notes on paper for entry when systems return. Workers will phone the rostering desk rather than use the app.

6.Workforce shortage

Where shifts cannot be filled, coordinators will reduce non-essential services such as domestic assistance before personal care, redeploy office based staff with current screening, and tell affected clients and families what is changing and when service will resume.

7.Recovery and review

After any activation, the leadership group will debrief within two weeks, record what worked and what did not in the continuous improvement register and update this plan.