Throughout the pandemic,six people have died in Victoria’s state-run aged care homes compared to more than 900 in private and non-profit settings – and there’s broad agreement on the factors at play.
Confining aged care residents to their rooms must be replaced by managing coronavirus like flu or gastro outbreaks,says the boss of a nursing home group that has successfully fought back the virus.
The federal government must come up with sustained initiatives to make careers in the aged-care sector more attractive. This means wages need to increase permanently.
The Omicron wave has laid bare the structural deficiencies in our aged care system,and we now need a plan to solve them.
Of almost 300 Victorian aged care facilities with active COVID-19 outbreaks,only seven have been spot-checked by the national industry watchdog.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation assistant secretary Lori-Anne Sharp says the payments of up to $400 each,to be paid this month and again in May,will not convince staff to keep working in distressing conditions.
It is the nation’s highest number of active aged care outbreaks reported this year,and almost double the figure recorded last week.
Nurse convinced vulnerable woman to give him thousands of dollars,which he spent on a car,flights and admission to the Cricket World Cup,VCAT hears.
Advocates for older Australians are alarmed that aged care providers will get immunity from prosecution for using physical and chemical restraints.
A country as wealthy as ours should be able to provide safe and affordable supported housing to elderly people in their final years.
But Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck says the tender process does not necessarily mean state health system involvement will end.