The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care (DoH) have advised that due to an IT issue with their mailbox, orders sent in December for PPE/RAT/ antiviral supplies from the National Medical Stockpile were never received.
They are asking ACCHOs to re-send their orders on the attached form to FirstNationsCOVID-19@health.gov.au and also to cc in Covid19Vaccine@naccho.org.au as NACCHO is keeping track of orders placed, acknowledged by Department of Health and then received.
To reduce delay with back and forth communication, before submitting a request the DoH are also asking ACCHOs to revise their orders based on the following criteria:
- Please explore your usual channels first for obtaining stock, because the National Medical Stockpile is intended for emergency support when no supplies are available (e.g. due to local floods or pandemic level demand).
- If your clinics are unable to obtain stock through usual channels, please provide specific numbers of items needed (e.g. 100 RAT Tests).
- Please limit requests for supplies to volumes likely to be needed for a few months only, based on your usual demand. This helps to avoid problems with stock expiring before it can be used.
