3 October 2018
The Aged Care industry has been in the spotlight over the past fortnight. The ABC’s two part series on issues in nursing homes across Australia painted a harrowing picture of what many elderly residents face on a daily basis. In line with this, and as part of our national aged care campaign calling on legislated ratios, the ANMF performed a random audit of members working at five facilities on the eastern shore on the 24th September.
“The audit of members at five facilities in Julie Collins electorate on the eastern shore, revealed some shocking results that we have been hearing from members for a number of years in regard to ratios, safe patient care, rationing of basic care and hygiene items, and long waiting times,” said ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary Emily Shepherd.
The audit highlighted issues regarding ratios, safe resident care, rationing of basic care and hygiene needs, and long waiting times for assistance. The ANMF were shocked to learn that of the five facilities targeted, only one of those provided more than one hour of care to its residents over the afternoon shift – a shift that normally runs from 2pm to 11pm. The number of care hours provided by the other four well known facilities ranged from approximately 30 minutes to 50 minutes of direct patient care during this period.
Our delivery to Julie:
The audit clearly shows that staff are over worked and under resourced, and resident care is adversely affected due to providers putting profits before care. In order to highlight this once again, ANMF Branch Secretary Emily Shepherd delivered to the Hon Julie Collins MP (ALP), her own personal aged care hamper to highlight. The hamper highlighted the realities of aged care versus the promises of aged care facilities.
Local Pledges:
The ANMF are calling on Julie to pledge her support to the national campaign to make ratios law. Despite several attempts, Julie has not been open leading the way in supporting the ANMF or our push to legislate ratios. We have however welcomed the support of a number of local pledges in the past fortnight from Andrew Wilkie MP, (Independent for Denison), Senator Nick McKim (Tasmanian Senator for the Greens), and Ross Hart MP Member for Bass (ALP).
Royal Commission:
The ANMF and our members are very heartened by the announcement of a royal commission into aged care as an acknowledgement of the issues in the industry. The ANMF will continue to seek the support of all federal politicians as part of this campaign in the lead up to the Royal Commission and Federal election.
Local event updates:
ANMF recently ran a session on the national Aged Care Campaign at the Howrah School for Seniors. There were 48 community members present who had many questions and were happy to pledge their support to our national campaign to ‘Make Ratios Law NOW’. This was a great opportunity for Aged care Organiser Mandy Woodorth to speak with community about the importance of gaining community and government support to legislate ratios to ensure our elderly are treated with dignity and respect.
The ANMF will continue to hold information/pop up stalls in local shopping centres over the coming months. Our next stall will be held at Eastlands Shopping Centre on Monday the 8thOctober 2018 from 9am to 3pm. We will also be present at the New Norfolk Markets on the 13thand 20th October to gain support for the campaign and gather sign ups to the campaign. Please come and see us to ask any questions, have a chat, and to sign our petition. You can learn more about the campaign and sign up to learn more here or spend 2 minutes and send a quick email to your politician here