A common theme of much of the media comment made by our current Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, is that she makes no apology for the fact that her priority is ensuring that frail aged and vulnerable seniors are protected.   

If only she did - ensure that frail people receive proper protection - that is. Because, in spite of her repetitive, ‘no apology’ statement, current protection measures for vulnerable people in residential care are just not good enough...

And they won’t be - until this Minister bites the bullet and does something about the appalling staff/resident ratios found in some of our aged-care homes. For example, when Choice magazine featured residential aged care a while back, one family member interviewed for the article said the home where his loved one lived had just one carer at night to attend 80 people (many with dementia) scattered in different buildings over a wide area.  

At Kirralee home in Ballarat, which recently failed to meet 33 of 44 basic standards, it is claimed that only six registered nurses were rostered on a shift to look after 100 residents. 

Similar anecdotes abound – right across the country. Is this really what anyone, including Justine Elliot, considers safe protection in frail old age?

Every time another nursing home scandal occurs, we get the same old tinkering about with aged care. Maybe, as with the gastro outbreak in NSW, it is the development of new guidelines about disease management. Maybe it is police checks for absolutely all and sundry - as ordered by former Minister, Santo Santoro. Whatever!

But the one thing that will provide the most protection for those living in residential care is to have enough staff on hand to look after people properly. The next thing is to make sure that those staff are well-trained and mentored.

Too expensive? Tell that to the frail person waiting for hours for help to do basic things (like eating, drinking, washing and toileting!) that you and I take for granted. Well… that is, take for granted until we are frail and vulnerable and can’t do them either.