Thursday, 24 November 2011 07:46 |
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The faces of grieving family members at the memorial service for the residents of the Quakers Hill Nursing Home speak a thousand words. How to even imagine what it might be like to be frail, bedbound and to be caught up in a maelstrom of fire! At the time of writing nine residents have died, more are still in critical care and many more have suffered the trauma of relocation. Quakers Hill was home to 88 residents at the time of the fire. The police are still conducting investigations, a Quakers Hill staff member has been arrested and charged and Premier O'Farrell has called for a review of the state’s aged-care system. Presumably there will be a coronial inquiry into these deaths – as occurred with the deaths of people at the Victorian Kew Cottages in 1996 and the Childers Backpacker Hostel in 2000. We all hope that these investigations will be far-reaching and will provide both answers and solutions. Such a tragedy brings to mind some of the critical issues around aged care - many of which were sadly neglected by the Productivity Commission Report which was released earlier this year. This columnist has already commented on the failure of the Productivity Commission to fully address staffing issues. The fact is that there is a staffing crisis in aged care that is being ignored by those whose job it is to ensure the well-being and safety of frail, older Australians. This is evidenced by the refusal of politicians and aged-care bureaucrats to mandate minimum staff/resident ratios in aged-care homes and by the ongoing staff roundabout currently occurring within the system. Providers try to do more with less. Dedicated staff often find the strain too much. And skilled new staff are not attracted to a poorly-paid job that is never done. We should not forget that aged-care workers are among the lowest paid in Australia. Many earn less than $600 per week. Furthermore, nurses who work in aged care are paid considerably less than those in the acute sector. A survey completed just this month finds that many nurses and carers are planning to leave the sector because of low pay and poor conditions. One of the best protections that people who live in residential care can have is a system that places high value on transparency. We all should know exactly who owns and runs the homes where our frail relatives live and be confident that they have been subjected to full probity checks. It should be routine to disclose just how many staff are on duty at any time and to have knowledge of the daily routine and much more. We would expect that that investigation into this tragedy will include reviewing the various building regulations and fire safety measures required by aged-care homes. The debate around some fire-safety measures has already started. Jim Smith, a NSW Fire and Rescue Deputy Commissioner, states '... the materials used in the furniture have been banned in the US and Britain, and from Australian places of public entertainment, like football stadiums. The effectiveness of sprinklers is also now being debated. Jim Smith comments that 'sprinklers would have saved lives'. Some reports from overseas also suggest this.
Strangely, NSW Planning and infrastructure minister Brad Hazzard says that there is no way of knowing how many homes do not have sprinklers installed. The heroes of the terrible day at Quakers Hill Nursing home were the brave emergency crews and aged-care staff who rescued infirm people trapped in an inferno. The government has vowed to reform aged care during this term of office. We now need courageous decision-makers to make the changes that would give us all confidence in how we will be cared for as we approach the end of life. Newer articles:
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