Commonly Asked Questions

A registered nurse is available 24/7 in all facilities

Southern Cross Care Tasmania has a comprehensive and detailed Outbreak Management plan that our team are fully versed and trained in. This plan is activated instantly upon Public Health confirmation that one of our sites is either classified as exposure or lockdown.

All our staff are fully trained in infection and disease prevention, we ensure plentiful supplies of PPE Gear and continue with refresher training.

We have installed at each facility, the zipline entry management system which ensures full details, vaccination and temperature checks are undertaken before entering our homes. All staff undertake rapid antigen testing prior to shifts.

Yes, professional commercial laundry services are provided in all our homes. All items must be appropriately labelled before admission. Fabric markers and iron labels are not appropriate as they fade and fall off in a short amount of time.

We offer a professional labelling service for a small fee so that your clothes are clearly labelled and can be returned to you as quickly as possible. As we use industrial laundry machines, we recommend that delicate items of clothing be hand-washed by you or a family member or friend. We can arrange dry cleaning at competitive rates.

Absolutely, just inform the Registered Nurse of your leave and sign the appropriate documentation for safety and security reasons.

The same applies to day leave, please advise the Registered Nurse of your departure and return time.

Southern Cross care has registered nurses and caring staff rostered 24 hours per day. Staffing levels are determined on the basis of resident need not according to predefined staff to resident ratios which makes good common and care sense.

For example, if we have a high proportion of residents who need end of life care, have advanced dementia, require hoisting or are resistant to care, then we need more staff on shift than if majority of residents had low levels of care needs. All Southern Cross Care facilities are supported by additional onsite staff in areas such as catering and cleaning, maintenance and gardening, clinical management and administrative support.

IN ADDITION, we also provide 

• Allied health workers such as physiotherapists, 
• Leisure and lifestyle employees.

Yes, we provide toiletries and pharmaceuticals to every resident including continence and other appropriate high-quality disposable products as part of our care and services.  If you have a personal preference for a brand or if your doctor prescribes a continence aid that is not provided by us, these must be supplied and paid for by you or your representative.

We value your thoughts and the opportunity to work with you to resolve any issues you may have. That’s why you’ll find it easy to raise a complaint, make a suggestion, share a compliment or just have your say.

Here are some simple avenues to provide your feedback:

Speak to a team member in your home.  This is often the fastest and easiest way to communicate your feedback and to resolve an issue.

Arrange a time to speak with the Facility Manager in your home either in person or by phone.  Our Managers appreciate the opportunity to work with you to action your feedback.

You can submit your feedback by emailing enquiries@scctas.org.au 

Alternatively suggestion boxes are located in each facility, with forms. These boxes are checked regularly and your feedback is always welcome and important to us.

If you feel that your issue has not been resolved to your satisfaction, you may call 6146 1800 and request an internal review from the Executive Manager Residential Services.

No, you don’t need to have an Enduring Power of Attorney to move into our home however we encourage you to consider one. Appointing a trusted family member or friend to help manage your affairs and/or make health, medical and lifestyle decisions on your behalf if you are no longer capable of doing so, provides security for you.  If you would like to explore these options, the Facility Manager in the home can refer you to relevant resources.

Absolutely! Where space allows you can certainly bring personal items and furniture. This may include a comfy armchair, chest of drawers or tv unit for example. Many of our residents have paintings and photos on the walls and ornaments on display to make them feel more at home.

It is often family members or friends who notice the change in an elderly loved one’s care-related needs. You may have to talk about care for many reasons, some of them may be because:

• there’s a decrease in their mobility or the increased need for accessibility aids
• they’re struggling to conduct everyday tasks
• you’re unsure about their finances and whether they have substantial living costs
• you’re concerned they may have dementia or experiencing memory loss
• you want to understand and find out what’s involved in end of life care

Your loved one ultimately needs to be included in any care decisions in order for them to enjoy the best quality of life and truly feel safe, happy and comfortable with any care-related changes that may take place.  If they’ve agreed to life in a residential care facility and you’ve shortlisted some in your local area, perhaps you can go through the homes’ brochures with them. Ask them which one they like the look of, which one they think they’ll feel most comfortable in.