Aged-care was privatised in 1997 by John Howard (Aged Care Act 1997). It has been all downhill from there!
Aged-Care is in CRISIS! Hardly any of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care have been accepted or passed by the Morrison government.
CoVid has simply uncovered deficiencies in the Aged-Care sector that have existed, particularly since it became corporatised.
CoVid has meant significant infection of CoVid by aged-care staff, as well as residents, because of slow immunisation and aged-care workers returning to their home countries and not being able to return, or being dismissed because they would not have immunisation shots.
Those carers in aged-care homes are doing their very best to provide the best quality care they can: many are doing double even triple shifts because
There is a chronic shortage of staff in aged-care centres, particularly RNs and other specialised medical staff. This means that many residents in aged-care are not able to receive the quality of care they require.
The aim of many family or corporately owned aged-care centres is not quality care for their residents: it is profit making for shareholders.
Try not being able to get out of bed until 11.00 am when the carers have time to get to you: try having to wear urinary pads constantly because there aren’t enough carers at night time to help you get to the toilet: try being showered only 3 times in seven days: try being Ann Marie Smith who died in her own faeces in a wheelchair she was unable to get out of herself in her own home because of lack of attention by a supposed private agency home carer [The Saturday Paper, April 2-8, 2022, p6].
