Covid-19 - Company Guidance Statement

Guidance 1^st April 2020:

We have adapted our guidelines to deal with the continued spread of the Coronavirus Covid-19 and the updated rules and best-practice guidelines released by the Government and Health Authorities. 

At this point we feel it is important to share with you how our guidelines have changed so that you and your clients feel protected.

• Offices / Staff:  Some of our Administrative teams are working fully at home and others are on a team1/team2 rotation. Those working-from-home appear to be doing so with great effectiveness. We have noticed some slight call-quality issues but generally you shouldn’t notice a change (other than the occasional small child in the background!).

• Showrooms: Our showrooms continue to remain open. Visitors are required to complete a Health Declaration form to allow us to communicate with them if necessary and for us to have clarity on their recent health status and therefore risk to our staff. Face-masks & gloves are worn by our staff.

• Client-Facing Staff (Sales, Deliveries, Service etc.): Our staff will wear the following PPE:
  • All Staff: Mask & Gloves.
  • Complex Rehab Team: Mask, Gloves, Gown.

• Equipment Trials – Equipment Cleanliness: Are still available. Equipment is handled as follows to ensure it is safe for trial.
  • Cleaned before trial.
  • Cleaned before returning to Van.
  • Cleaned on return to our warehouse.

• Equipment Trials – Video Remote-Access:  Our staff have access to Zoom pro. If you require us to trial equipment in-the-field whilst you connect remotely then Zoom has proven a very effective tool for you to participate in that process whilst maximising social-distancing. If you don’t have a Zoom account, free 30-day trials are available.

• Deliveries & Pickups: We continue to call-ahead to confirm Covid-19 or flu-like symptoms. In these cases, the delivery will be to-the-door only. Pickups will not proceed until after 

• Training:  This continues to be suspended until after June 2020.  If remote training of your staff is required then Zoom has proven a very effective tool to facilitate this. Please reach out to us if you need support in this regards. 

Appendix 1: Guidance Released 16^th March 2020:

At Aidacare we have worked for many years to prioritise trust in our brand and systems with the safety of our customers and staff being paramount in these priorities. The advent of the Coronavirus Covid-19 is certainly a challenge like no other we’ve faced in this regard. Therefore, we would like to share with you the actions we are taking to protect our customers and staff from the virus.

A large focus of our efforts have been towards minimising cross-contact in the following scenarios:

• Offices:  We have implemented a policy within our major sites of minimising contact between teams by segregating office areas wherever possible.
• Showrooms: Our showrooms remain open and committed to supporting those who require equipment. Our staff will inquire as to cases of Covid-19 or flu-like symptoms and may restrict access to the showroom depending on the answer. In all cases, our staff will thoroughly clean all equipment to avoid cross-infection.
• Rental & Hire Pickups: We have reinforced our operating procedures around Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). We have also adjusted our pickup scheduling to include an inquiry as to cases of Covid-19 or flu-like symptoms and pick-ups may be delayed if a confirmed case exists.
• Deliveries: We have adjusted our delivery scheduling to include an inquiry as to cases of Covid-19 or flu-like symptoms. Where this is the case, deliveries will be to the door only.
• Sales & Service Staff: Our sales and service staff will comply with all local policies and procedures of our clients. They will call-ahead to inquire of cases of Covid-19. 
• Travel: We have restricted air-travel for both international and domestic flights by our staff.
• Training & Conferences: We have limited or deferred our group training sessions until after June 2020 to give us time to assess the situation. We have also limited our attendance at conferences during that same period. 

In addition to these measures, we are undertaking evaluation of our IT systems to cater for our teams to continue supporting our customers from home with minimal disruption.

Finally, we understand that our customers still require products and services to support them during this period. We have therefore undertaken the following steps to ensure continuity of supply:

• Suppliers & Inventory: We have collaborated with our suppliers and reviewed stock-levels to identify potential supply-chain disruptions. At this time, we are confident that disruptions will be minimal.
• Purchasing Portals:  We have evaluated the ability of our online procurement portals to cope with increased ordering loads and confirm that our review has been positive and the systems are dealing well with the increases. 

This is a rapidly changing situation so stay in touch for updates and please remember to do the right thing and let us know if you are experiencing any symptoms.

Yours sincerely,

Sam Garland.