Families of aged care residents in regional Victorian nursing homes say the major political parties need to make hard promises to lift standards in aged care and increase accountability for those doing the wrong thing.
Key points:Families have called on major parties to commit to fixing aged care to their standardsThe Liberals and Nationals say their plan is in place, while Labor says it has five key areas of improvementNurses say the sector is under-resourced with poor pay and conditionsNurses are also speaking out, saying mandating minimum staffing levels and 24-hour coverage is needed to stop overworked nurses and personal care assistants from burning out while under-resourced.
Kaye Bearin lives in Eaglehawk, near Bendigo, and says she is often doing the work of aged care staff at the nursing home her mother lives at because they are understaffed, overworked, and some are not trained to look for changes in physical abilities or behaviour.
Her 93-year-old mother has been in a Bendigo aged care home for seven years and Ms Bearlin said more enrolled and registered nurses were needed in homes.
“There would be fewer falls, there would be fewer wounds. There’d be fewer bedsores because you’ve got the staff with the skills, who know what those things are,” she said.
“You can’t expect personal care assistants to know those things.”
Families looking for details in policiesAhead of the yet-to-be-called federal election, Ms Bearlin said she wanted to see funding tied to improved standards, governance, and accountability.
That way, she said, the money could not be used by age care providers for profit, expansion, or capital funds to expand and buy out other nursing homes.
“They have nurses 24/7 where my mum is, which I know is something that the Labor Party has supported,” Ms Bearlin said.
If elected, Labor said it will deliver on 24-hour nursing, get more carers into the system, provide better wages, make sure food standards are met, and make providers report their costs if it wins the election.
A spokesman for the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck, said the Coalition had already provided more than $600 million in wages bonuses for aged care workers and invested more than $18.8 billion to fund vital changes to workforce and governance.
He said the new Australian National Aged Care Classifica
Read More