"If we expect people to pay more [in the future], we have to deliver much better care" [Catholic Health Australia chief executive Pat Garcia quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 February 2020]
ABC
News, 9 February 2020:
Sydney's
streets were thick with smoke as the blazes took hold on December 5
last year.
That may explain why few noticed or cared about the final sitting day in Canberra.
But
what happened in the Senate that day shows just how strong the ties
that bind the aged care lobby and government really are.
At
9.30 that day, some crucial amendments to aged care legislation were
introduced which would force nursing home to reveal how they spent their $20 billion of taxpayer funds each year — specifically, how
much went to staff, food and "the amounts paid out to parent bodies".
Unlike
hospital and child care centres, aged care facilities can employ as
few staff as they like because there are no staff-to-resident ratios in nursing homes.
When
it comes to food, a study of 800 nursing homes shows the average
spend is just $6 a day.
The
Senate vote was taking place just five weeks after
the scathing interim report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
the scathing interim report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Among
its findings of a "sad and shocking" system which was
"inhumane, abusive and unjustified", the commissioners also commented on the lack of transparency in aged care, with the numbers of complaints, assaults and staff numbers all kept secret from the public.
"inhumane, abusive and unjustified", the commissioners also commented on the lack of transparency in aged care, with the numbers of complaints, assaults and staff numbers all kept secret from the public.
"My
amendments are all about transparency and accountability —
and, boy, do we need more of this," said Senator Stirling Griff from Centre Alliance, who proposed the amendments.
and, boy, do we need more of this," said Senator Stirling Griff from Centre Alliance, who proposed the amendments.
When the crucial vote came, Labor, the Greens, Centre Alliance and Jacqui Lambie supported it. But the Government voted against it and, with
the help of Pauline Hanson, the reform was defeated.
It
might seem an odd choice for Pauline Hanson, who has previously rallied against the aged care sector for "rorting and
malpractice", but it shouldn't be surprising that the Government
voted it down.
The
influence of lobbyists
For example, when the Queensland Government proposed laws requiring nursing homes to publish their staff numbers last year, the federal Department of Health sent a six-page document arguing against it, saying it might "confuse or mislead" families and "appears to create a reporting burden on providers with no clear benefits to consumers".
The
aged care industry has been successfully lobbying governments for
years. The influence of the industry through government committees,
think tanks and policies is well known and is being rightly questioned
at the royal commission.
For example, when the Queensland Government proposed laws requiring nursing homes to publish their staff numbers last year, the federal Department of Health sent a six-page document arguing against it, saying it might "confuse or mislead" families and "appears to create a reporting burden on providers with no clear benefits to consumers".
If
you think the Federal Government's objections sound a lot like those
of the aged care lobby, you wouldn't be wrong.
In
fact, the industry group Leading Aged Services Australia (LASA)
argued in its own submission that few families would be interested in
accessing a website with such information and that the numbers could
be used "to push a particular medically based care model (which
may be contrary to the preferences of residents)".
That's
an argument LASA has been using for years. It's code for arguing
against more registered nurses for fear it spoils the "home-like"
atmosphere of an aged care facility.
Others
might argue that the hundreds of stories told to the royal commission
of poor wound care, misdiagnosis and failure to send sick residents
to hospital may have something to do with that lack of a "medical
model".
Currently
there's no requirement, except in Victorian state run facilities, for
an RN to be employed at a nursing home.
The
aged care lobby doesn't want that to become a national trend.
Why
can't we know how many staff there are?'
The
industry and Federal Government's opposition to the argument against
making the staff numbers public didn't wash with the Queensland
Government.
"We
report the number of teachers to students in classes, educators to
children in child care, why the hell can't we know how many staff
there are in aged care facilities?," said Queensland Health
Minister Stephen Mills, who successfully passed the legislation and
says he will "name and shame" nursing homes which refuse to
make staff numbers public.
Prime
Minister Scott Morrison will argue that the Government voted against
the federal moves for financial transparency because it doesn't want
to introduce any major reforms before the final report from the royal
commission.
However,
that excuse didn't stop the Federal Government from its massive
reform of putting the publicly funded Aged Care Assessment system out
to tender last year.
The
move to privatise it was widely denounced by state ministers
(including from the NSW Liberal Government), advocates and the
medical profession.
But
the aged care lobby groups are big supporters of the change…...
Read the full article here.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 February 2020:
...the federal Health Department revealed it was yet to implement key recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission's 2017 report on elder abuse.
Responding to a question taken on notice at a Senate estimates hearing, Health Department bureaucrats this week said a "scoping study" was being done on a register of aged care workers, while "preparatory work" was under way on a serious incident response scheme for assaults in care.
Labor's aged care spokeswoman, Julie Collins, said older Australians at risk of abuse deserved "immediate action, not years of inaction and delays".
Official data shows there were 5233 assaults in residential aged care facilities in 2018-19.
Catholic Health Australia outlined its proposed new means-testing rules in a pre-budget submission to the federal government.
There is a question begging to be answered here.
Read the full article here.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 February 2020:
...the federal Health Department revealed it was yet to implement key recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission's 2017 report on elder abuse.
Responding to a question taken on notice at a Senate estimates hearing, Health Department bureaucrats this week said a "scoping study" was being done on a register of aged care workers, while "preparatory work" was under way on a serious incident response scheme for assaults in care.
Labor's aged care spokeswoman, Julie Collins, said older Australians at risk of abuse deserved "immediate action, not years of inaction and delays".
Official data shows there were 5233 assaults in residential aged care facilities in 2018-19.
Catholic Health Australia outlined its proposed new means-testing rules in a pre-budget submission to the federal government.
There is a question begging to be answered here.
If Scott Morrison and his Lib-Nats cronies go down the path of attempting to permanenltly conceal what amounts to institutionalised elder abuse, allows residential aged care providers to further entrench differing levels of care based on an ability of the frail aged to pay and goes ahead with further aged care services privatisation in order to avoid accountability - has Morrison himself calculated just how many elderly Australians will be likely to commit suicide soon after being told they will be entering residential aged care?
